Good morning & Happy Friday.
Back in 2021, during my oldest son’s senior year of high school, he needed to complete a senior project. He chose to start a scholarship fund at his high school to raise awareness of teen suicide. He wrote letters to friends and family, and our team at LJI decided to host a golf outing in Fishers to raise money for the cause. That outing raised $15,000 and my son raised $40kish in total. Each year a student from his high school is now given $3k towards their college education, and that amount will go up over time.
My point in sharing the above is, during the ‘process’ of setting up his charity, I learned it was fairly simple to start a non-profit/charitable organization. For at least the previous 10+ years, I had helped run an annual golf outing (at the same golf course) to raise funds for a different cause so that part felt familiar.
That next year we started the ‘LJI Foundation’ and hosted our 2nd Annual golf outing. I like to keep golf outings to a limited # of teams to respect the golfer’s time…and the 1st one filled up very quickly without us ‘getting the word out’. I share that only to explain why we have not shouted from the rooftops about the LJI Foundation, or our annual LJI golf outing. We didn’t want to offend those who couldn’t play in our LJI Foundation Outing because it was ‘full’. In hindsight that reasoning is probably silly…. but it is the truth.
Either way, I’m proud to share that the LJI Foundation has now grown to roughly $80kish. And that’s after giving 7%ish away annually to a local community shelter near our downtown Indianapolis office. Last year our golf outing was rained out but LJI still made a $15k donation to our foundation. ‘A big THANK YOU to our various sponsors, vendors, and clients for the continued support.
Fast forward to this year. The LJI Foundation golf outing was scheduled for September 15th. Unfortunately, the golf course where we host the tournament fell victim to the recent ‘100-year Flood’ & we have decided to cancel our outing as more time is needed to repair the golf course.
Last week I shared our ‘neighborhood’ near our Broad Ripple office suffered severe flood damage. We were spared but MANY residents lost everything. The good news is a long-time LJI client & friend is volunteering his time as chair of a ‘Rapid Flood Response Fund’ fund, which is part of the ‘Friends of the White River’ charitable organization. He ensures 100% of any donation goes directly to homeowners suffering right now.
All of this is a long way of saying, this year, LJI is going to make our annual donation to the LJI Foundation and then immediately write a check for $15k to the flood relief fund above. And no pressure on any level, but if anyone reading this would like to make a contribution to the LJI Foundation this year to help in the flood relief effort, LJI will match that contribution and ensure both your amount, & our match, goes directly to help our neighbors get thru this horrific time.
Please write a check to ‘LJI Foundation’ and mail a check to 6569 Carrolton Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46220.
We’ll mail you a receipt with our Tax ID#87-3685601, making all contributions tax deductible. We are working on an option for electronic payments and will share that information with anyone who prefers that payment method once available. Please just let us know if that is your preference.
Lastly, 2027 is ‘Year 20’ for LJI Wealth Management and we’re looking forward to ramping up efforts for a much larger LJI Foundation Golf Outing next September. So, if you have any interest in playing in it, putting together a team, or becoming a sponsor/donor, please let me know and we’ll communicate details next summer.
THANK YOU to our team, our great clients, and anyone else donating their time, goods, and/or money to the flood victims of Central Indiana. It takes a village….
Sincerely,
Layton L. John & Your LJI Team