Evelyn was born with Hao-Fountain syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. She was often at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, battling infections, recovering from multiple heart and abdominal surgeries and receiving frequent treatments.

“When she was little — two or three — if we drove by without going in, she would get upset,” Marie-Claire says.

It’s where she learned preschool songs and spent countless hours with talented music therapist, Sarah Van Peteghen. For Evelyn, who had music on almost all the time — including the Jonas Brothers, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes — those were the things that allowed her to just be a kid.

“Her whole body language changed when she was listening to music. She danced and ran around and it just energized her.”
— Marie-Claire, Evelyn’s mom

“She’d said many times, actually, the months before she died, she wanted to do a fundraiser for the hospital,” Marie-Claire says. The family established the Evelyn Shanahan Endowment Fund for Creative Play in support of music and art therapy at the hospital.

Donations began coming in from those who had known Evelyn, and the initiative to honour her legacy snowballed into further fundraising events like the dog-friendly fair, Pupchella.

Evelyn’s grandmother, Liz, says after receiving so much generous support through the fund, the family decided they wanted to take another step to benefit future generations of children.

Both Evelyn’s parents, Marie-Claire and Mike, and grandparents, Liz and Kieran, made the decision to leave a gift in their Wills — also known as legacy gifts — to support arts programming at the Alberta Children’s Hospital into the future.

Liz says it’s a way to remember what it was like watching Evelyn enjoy the music therapy program — playing instruments and spending time with Sarah.

“Therapy programs really change the experience for children who are in the hospital,” she says.

For Marie-Claire, directing funds toward the things Evelyn cared about feels, in a way, like they are leaving the money for her. It’s also the family’s way of saying thank you to the community, who helped ensure those programs were there for Evelyn. “We’re now doing the same thing.”

A donor shares that they have included a $10,000 gift in their Will to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. After receiving notification of this future gift, $2,500 (25% of $10,000) is earmarked for the donor to immediately direct to a current fundraising priority of their choice. And then, upon the donor’s passing, their legacy gift of $10,000 will be received by the Foundation as per their wishes in their Will.

While the donor will not receive a charitable tax receipt for this matching $2,500, they will get to select and learn about a current priority area to invest in that is meaningful to them. They will also receive ongoing impact news of their matching funds.

Undesignated Bequest

Residual Bequest: Designates all or a portion of whatever remains after all debts, taxes, expenses and all other bequests have been paid.

“I give _________[a portion of, example: “25% of”; all of, example: “100% of”] the rest and residue of my estate to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, in the City of Calgary, Alberta, to be used for such purposes as the Board of Directors of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation may from time to time determine. I declare that the official charitable donation receipt shall be a sufficient discharge of my Executor.”

Specific Bequest: Directs that the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation receives a specific amount or a certain kind of property, for example, a gift of shares.

“I give _______ to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation in the City of Calgary, Alberta, to be used for such purposes as the Board of Directors of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation may from time to time determine. I declare that the official charitable donation receipt shall be a sufficient discharge of my Executor.”

Designated Bequest

Gifts may be directed to a particular area of the hospital. These gifts may also be residual or specific. “I give ________ to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation in the City of Calgary, Alberta, to be used for ___________ child health and wellness research at the University of Calgary and the Alberta Children’s Hospital. I declare that the official charitable donation receipt shall be a sufficient discharge of my Executor.”

Power to Vary Clause: We recommend that you include language that permits the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation to use the gift for a different purpose if circumstances change that make it impossible or impracticable to carry out the original purposes.

“In the event that, in the opinion of the Board of Directors of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, it should become impossible, inadvisable, or impractical to apply this gift for said purpose, the gift may be used for other purposes consonant with the spirit and intention of this gift.”

We strongly encourage you to talk to your family about your plans and seek professional legal, estate planning and/or financial advice when making decisions about your gift to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.

For more information, please contact Sheelagh Mercier at 403.955.8837, smercier@achf.com or Stephanie Nitschke at 403.955.8862, snitschke@achf.com

Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute: research4kids.ucalgary.ca/

CAGP WillPower: willpower.ca

Government of Alberta – Information on Wills: alberta.ca

CRA Charity Page: Canada Revenue Agency