Barry and Josephine Lifrieri Fund

“I worked in the nonprofit sector, and I remember when the Valley Community Foundation was formed,” Josephine said. “I have seen the positive impact VCF has had on our community as the Valley has received the attention it needs.”

“We wanted to leave a legacy by giving back to our community when we started our estate planning,” Barry said. “We don’t have children, so we were thinking about the causes important to us.”

Barry and Josephine said the Valley has so many wonderful nonprofit organizations, but through their fund they want to help the ones dear to them. Right now, they have three areas of interest.

“We’ve always been animal lovers, especially cats,” Josephine said. “And helping the elderly captures my heart because that was my focus when I was working. We love the theater and arts, I could see a show every week. These are the things we want the fund to support.”

Josephine said establishing a fund through VCF was easy, fit perfectly with their final wishes, and was reassuring to them. “Now no one needs to wonder what we would have wanted,” she said. Barry said he likes being able to encourage friends and family to support the fund now.

“The fund will grow and of course carry out our wishes when we’re gone,” he said. “And friends can add to it for birthdays, or special events.”

“We both came from hard-working middle-class families and to do this is more than we possibly could have imagined,” Barry said. “Just like people who plan to leave their belongings to individuals, we incorporated nonprofits that share our passions. Anyone can set up a fund like this and pick the areas that are important to them. This is just our way, and it’s good to know you don’t need to be a millionaire.”