Plan Your Legacy
Leaving a gift to Chicago Audubon Society in your will or trust by beneficiary designation or another form of planned gift can make a lasting difference to our work. To learn more about specific opportunities and how you can benefit from leaving a legacy gift, click here.
To find out more about how to leave your legacy with Chicago Audubon Society, please contact Judy Pollock at: cas@chicagoaudubon.org or 773- 539-6793
In 2019, CAS received a legacy gift from Pamela Vawter that radically changed our ability to help local birds.
Pamela’s gift enabled us to:
- Initiate community outreach programs in diverse communities
-Improve our communications
- Offer leadership training
- Advocate effectively for reducing local threats to birds
- Hire a full time program and communications manager
Pamela Vawter lived in New Jersey when she became interested in birds and conservation. Along with her husband, she would travel the East Coast appreciating the natural world and the birds that made it their home.
Pamela eventually retired to a lakeside home in Lake County, IL, and enjoyed watching the seasonal activity. She could not ignore the changes she saw in her own backyard. She became very concerned about the decreases she saw in both the number and count of migratory species, coinciding with development in her area.
Pamela was interested in raising awareness and preserving habitat for all types of wildlife, and wanted her legacy to set an example for others to never stop fighting for our planet and the life that thrives here. Through a significant and meaningful bequest to Chicago Audubon, Pamela left migratory birds, and wildlife in Chicago, a fighting chance. While the world lost a great champion for birds, Chicago Audubon Society’s work was strengthened by her generosity. Her gift inspired us to make a strategic plan and to hire a staff person to help us extend our reach into new neighborhoods and preserves.
Through her legacy gift, Pamela Vawter lives on in our work and in all of the lives this organization touches.
You too can make a legacy contribution to Chicago Audubon Society to ensure that birds and wildlife in Illinois are protected, that future generations have access to birding and natural habitats, and that conservation education is accessible to all.
Great Blue Herons, Photo by Pamela Underhill Karaz