“Our Lord says ‘go and do my work’ to His disciples,” said Mohanty, a parishioner at All Saints parish in Etobicoke. “For the Church to survive, it needs support.” 

ShareLife, the charitable fundraising arm of the Archdiocese of Toronto, supports 34 agencies which provide annual services to almost 100,000 people in need. Any type of bequest to ShareLife is converted into cash and held in the ShareLife Legacy for Life Endowment Fund. 

“The fund was started in 2003 and the intention was to set aside funds to be invested for the long-term support of ShareLife’s agencies,” said executive director Arthur Peters. 

As of July, the value of the endowment fund was approximately $3.8 million, Peters said. The principle is invested and the annual return on the fund becomes part of ShareLife’s charitable revenue, which is then distributed to its affiliate agencies. 

“This year, the amount that it turned back was $126,000.” 

Donations are made to the fund in one of three ways: through a gift of life insurance, a bequest in a will or a charitable annuity. 

Bequests in a will can be made in cash, stocks or other assets, including property. 

When a person decides to include ShareLife in their will, their lawyer should contact ShareLife to be sure language in the will is correct. It is important to use ShareLife’s proper legal title, The ShareLife Trust. 

One hundred per cent of the proceeds generated by the endowment fund support ShareLife agencies. 

For Mohanty, planning ahead is his way of giving back. He says he draws his inspiration from Scripture, referencing the old widow described in Mark 12:41-44 who only had two coins. “And she gave it all to the Church.” 

“You receive blessings from God and you pass them down for the generations to come after you,” he says. 

“That’s my motivation for supporting ShareLife.” 

(Santilli is a freelance writer in Toronto.)