Keeping the memory of C.J. alive
The senseless death of her son in the prime of his life led Janice Moore to create a fund with Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF), which will support organizations and causes in the community that would make C.J. proud.
“My most important goal is to keep his memory alive,” says Moore. “Not for me; I just have to wake up in the morning and he is in my thoughts. But for others this fund and its good works will help to keep his memory alive.”
The C.J. Moore Memorial Phoenix Fund was set up in 2020, two years after C.J. drowned at the age of 24. The University of Waterloo bio-medical engineering student was a nationally ranked springboard and platform diver who had hoped to compete at the Olympics.
Aside from his scholastic and athletic accomplishments, Moore says her son was also very giving. At his celebration of life, one of his friend’s talked about how C.J. would give money to anyone he passed, and always took care of everyone else.
“He never had a huge amount of money to spread around, but he was altruistic in that he gave what he had,” she said.
His Fund has been established so Janice can grant to the community now in C.J.’s name. It will also receive a gift from Janice’s Will, which will grow the Fund and help provide even more support to some of the greatest needs in the community.
“I think that to direct it to one specific organization, you are missing the fact that at different times, different things take a front seat in terms of what’s important. Homelessness always matters, feeding people always matters, but there are times when one need supersedes the other.”
Janice has tapped three individuals to manage the Fund after she’s gone. But not forever. She said that she purposely set it up as a spend-down fund that won’t go on in perpetuity.
“I like the idea that this Fund will be used for 10-15 years to help people,” she says. “But after I’m gone, and after the people directly associated with the Fund are gone, I don’t want it to lose its meaning.”
Janice, a Rotarian who has volunteered with a variety of community organizations for decades, said she didn’t think about setting up a bequest while C.J. was alive. But someone else she knew who had lost a child had a fund through WRCF, which was when she first started to consider this option.
“This was not on my radar at all until C.J. passed away,” she said. “And WRCF is a great organization. They have the infrastructure, the know-how and the compassion to help you through the process.”
As for what C.J. would think of this Fund, Janice says he would love it.
“Anything to help others, would make him very happy.”
How to set up a bequest
The process for setting up a bequest is very straightforward. WRCF works with you to set up the fund agreement, which references that the fund will become active via a gift from the Will. Then, in your Will, you list WRCF as receiving a bequest. Fundholders can choose from a variety of types of funds. When WRCF receives the money via the estate, the fund becomes operational.
It’s important to note that future Fundholders can update their fund agreements with WRCF as many times as they’d like in their lifetime (at no cost). Regardless of any changes to the fund agreement, there is no need to subsequently update their Wills, as the Will just indicates that the bequest will be sent to WRCF; it is the fund agreement with WRCF that dictates what happens when the donation from the estate is received.
For more information about setting up a bequest and to ensure that you have the proper wording for your Will, contact Dan Robert at dan@wrcf.ca or 519-725-1806 x 205.
Note: This story was written prior to Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation and Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation unifying to become Waterloo Region Community Foundation. Although the story was created by KWCF, we have updated the organization name to WRCF throughout the story.