Give Manitoba

14 give Manitoba | JUNE 11, 2022 Contact us today to learn more. donations@assiniboinepark.ca | 204 927 8080 | Assiniboinepark.ca Doowah Design Inc. Client: Assiniboine Park Job no: 8497 Insertion: As per client request Leave a Legacy ad - WFP / 4C / 10.375" x 5.625" Problems or questions, call Priscilla at 204-949-7230 BECOME A PARK VISIONARY AND BEGIN YOUR LEGACY TODAY Imagine your gift… • Impacting current and future generations • Building on the Park's history of cultivating connections with nature and each other • Creating a lasting legacy for the future of Assiniboine Park and Zoo Leaving a gift in your will is a meaningful way to support the Assiniboine Park Conservancy and preserve, protect and enhance this cherished community asset for future generations. Seek experts to plan a legacy By Neil Coligan L ife is busy. It keeps many of us from pondering important questions. How will we be remembered? What will be our legacy? Will the values important to us be respected by our family? These questions need to be addressed while we have the time. Yes, people draw up wills or some document, but planning for when we're gone involves much more. Planning for what happens after our death can be difficult. Because others are involved — mainly your loved ones — it is never easy. These decisions can be made less uncertain and less stressful with the help of experts. Rosalynn Sheldon is an advance planning consultant with Cropo Funeral Chapel in Winnipeg. She says pre- arranging a funeral or memorial service relieves the burden on loved ones during an already emotional time. It also eliminates the task of second-guessing what that person would have wanted. The surprise to some is how soon people are making plans. "I'm talking to people in their 40s these days," says Sheldon. She says couples have a lot invested in what they've built, so they should address together the topic of what happens when one is gone. "You've done everything together, purchased houses, had children," she says. "That's why they would call someone like myself, and I would sit with them and go through the details with them. When you pass away, the other one doesn't have to do this by themself." Another shift involves the variety of cultures and religions coming forward to plan. General manager Krystle Ballance says Cropo serves at least 16 different faith groups but not always in the same way. "I can use my parents, for example. We come from a Roman Catholic background. Instead of a service with the casket being present and then burying a casket, some families have the casket present for the service with cremation to follow," she says. "We're seeing more videos of the person's life, personalized memorial booklets, even a wine and cheese service." Ballance says they even do live streaming of a service or memorial. This became especially important when pandemic restrictions made it difficult for people to gather in large groups indoors. She adds that the stream is archived for three months, with the family of the deceased receiving a permanent digital copy on a USB. "If the family wants to keep things private, live streaming is not automatic. The family must request it," Ballance says. Another aspect of advance planning usually extends to a person's estate — not just a will to say who in the family gets what but also a document stating how a person's values will be respected once they are gone. To guard against an estate's diminishing value, Ellen Murray says you can name a charity as a beneficiary on an insurance policy. CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

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