Angel Charity Foundation Ensures Future Support for Children

By Tara Kirkpatrick

Before philanthropist Margaret Larsen died in 2022, she set in motion a foundation that would enable Angel Charity for Children to help Pima County children in perpetuity.

It was a gracious final act for the Guardian Angel – the title Angel Charity gave Larsen as a guiding leader for the organization she had long served.

The Angel Charity Foundation now helps facilitate planned gifts and manage endowed assets for Angel Charity for Children. The Halo Society, of which Larsen and her husband George were founding members, will recognize the generosity of those who remember the nonprofit in their estate plan, will or trust.

“We wanted to make sure (Angel Charity) was going to stay around to help the children of our community,” said Adaline Klemmedson, a fellow Guardian Angel and close friend of Larsen’s who helped start the foundation. “She really took the lead on it. When the concept of a legacy giving program for Angel was discussed, she became the driving force behind its creation. We sat in her living room planning this foundation many, many times.”

Now the foundation’s president, Klemmedson said it will act as the supportive arm that helps Angel Charity extend its work for years to come.

Legacy giving to the foundation isn’t just for current and past members of Angel Charity, it’s for everyone in the community who has believed in its mission and impact for more than 40 years. Indeed, Angel Charity has helped 1.2 million children since it was founded in 1983.

The foundation, a 509(a)3 supporting organization, currently has roughly $2.3 million in assets and is managed by Merrill Lynch Bank of America, said Clint Mabie, senior VP and senior relationship advisor for Northern Trust and treasurer for the foundation board. The board itself includes four members of Angel Charity and four community representatives – with term limits.

“It’s mission is very simple,” Mabie said. “It supports the mission of Angel Charity.  That consistency of volunteer leadership is not going to change. So, it is a fantastic thing.”

Klemmedson added that as a supporting foundation, its spending policy means it gives money to Angel Charity for what the organization deems its greatest need each year. This year, the foundation was able to contribute $70,000 to the group.

The foundation offers several legacy gift options, including publicly traded securities, life insurance beneficiary, retirement plan beneficiary, gifts through estates, charitable trusts, retirement plan beneficiary, real estate, stock in privately held companies and gifts under wills and trusts.

Now in its fourth year, the foundation is especially important to Louise Thomas, who founded Angel Charity almost four decades ago.

“Our initial dream in 1983 now extends well into the future, ensuring the well-being for countless children requiring our assistance,” she said.

For more information, 

angelcharity.org/foundation

Photo by Chris Mooney