The Berman Family

It's not like giving back was new to Barry and Linda Berman. For years, the couple gave to causes they were passionate about and they endowed their legacy at The Associated and at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Recognizing that they were no longer spending much time at their vacation home in St. Michaels, the Bermans thought about selling.

Giving it further thought, they realized that by donating the home to The Associated rather than selling it, they could materially impact the lives of others (and the tax benefits didn't exactly hurt). They decided to gift the house to The Associated as part of their endowment plan.

Barry and Linda: The Associated is an organization that we trust. They do good work and we know that the money will be used well to support the entire community.

Being able to give a substantial gift of real estate helped us lead by example for our children and our grandchildren. You can talk about it all you want - yet if they see what you are doing, then that's likely to have the most impact.

We want our legacy to be that we were able to help people who are truly in need. It's as simple as that. We want to be remembered as people with integrity and kindness.

It comes from the values you learn as a child. Barry added (with nods from Linda) that he learned from his father how important it was to be charitable, and he learned from his mother and older cousins to always try to do the right thing.