Norma and Robert Fethler Help Kids by Donating Real Estate

Norma and Bob Fethler"I know all too well what it's like to be hospitalized," says Norma Fethler. She spent the entire first nine years of her life between a hospital for crippled children near Chicago and a convalescent home in nearby St. Charles, Illinois. She had contracted tuberculosis in her hip bone, resulting in multiple surgeries and lingering problems.

Fast forward 50 years. Norma, her husband, Robert (Bob), and their 16-year-old daughter, Dondi, moved into their new home in Rancho Bernardo, north of San Diego. Years later, Norma and Bob moved to a Del Webb retirement community in Sun City West, Arizona. They held on to their much-loved house in California for Dondi, should she ever need it. After Dondi's untimely death, Norma and Bob decided to give the house, to Rady Children's in exchange for a charitable gift annuity.

Donors, like Norma and Bob, who make a gift of real estate held for more than a year, may obtain a significant income tax deduction. Best of all, when choosing a charitable gift annuity to help make their gift, they receive a guaranteed income for the rest of their lives.

Norma and Bob, now in their 70's, love their new home in Arizona. The community offers an abundance of amenities and activities, including five swimming pools, "bocce" (the Italian version of lawn bowling) and miniature golf. Despite her lifelong disability, Norma enjoys ceramics and other crafts clubs. She and Bob have traveled all over the United States.

"We lost our precious Dondi, our one and only child," explains Norma. "But, through our charitable gift annuity, all the kids at Rady Children's are now ours. It meant so much to us to be able to help them have healthier and happier lives."

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