Bill Solomon to receive the Donor Recognition Award for his planned giving impact on St. Louis.

Thurs., June 28, 5:30 – 8:30 pm @ Palladium Saint Louis

(St. Louis, May 24, 2012) William (Bill) Solomon, community philanthropist, will be honored by the Planned Giving Council with the Donor Recognition Award at the 2012 St. Louis Legacy Awards Presentation and Reception on Thursday, June 28, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Palladium Saint Louis. This award is given each year to an individual, couple or family who has made a significant impact on St. Louis through their planned gift to a charity.

Previous Donor Recognition Award recipients include: 2008 – Michael & Carol Staenberg; 2009 – Louise Golman (1925-2007); 2010 – Steven Schankman, and 2011 – Alan & Edith L. Wolff

The Legacy Awards were established to recognize the crucial interaction between a donor, an advisor, and a charity needed to create a charitable planned gift. The annual Legacy Awards highlight charitable cooperation and collaboration that result in truly unique and inspirational charitable giving throughout the St. Louis region.

Solomon, who worked for 24 years at Anheuser-Busch, retired in 1992 as the Vice President/General Manager of the Container Division. Through the years, he had acquired a significant portfolio of A-B stock that he was forced to sell when the company merged with InBev. He decided to use these funds to make a significant impact on our community. Bill met with staff at the Jewish Community Foundation of St. Louis (JCF) to understand the various ways he could use his wealth to benefit the programs and organizations he loved. In 2008, he set up a $250,000 charitable remainder annuity trust to benefit Jewish Federation of St. Louis. In 2010, Bill established a $10,000 charitable gift annuity to benefit Jewish Family & Children’s Service.

Bill also set up two additional gifts to memorialize the legacy of his late wife Karen, an active donor and volunteer throughout the community. In 2008, he established the Karen Solomon Philanthropic Fund. To date, this fund has distributed more than $400,000 to Jewish and non-Jewish organizations throughout the community. Late last year, Bill set up the Karen Solomon Young Adult Service Initiative Endowment with a $100,000 gift. The endowment provides an annual grant to recruit, market, and organize an ongoing service project to attract and involve young Jews.

Bill has also started to make provisions through his estate plans to support the community. Through the JCF’s Create a Jewish Legacy program, he made a six-figure bequest commitment to his congregation, Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel (BSKI), where he also endows an annual Shabbat program honoring his late wife. Because of his understanding and belief in the concept of legacy giving, Bill has taken on a leadership position at BSKI to help promote the CJL effort and encourage others to consider bequest giving opportunities.

In addition to his support of the Jewish community, Bill has been honored for his service to numerous organizations. In 2000, he was named the Salvation Army Territorial Volunteer of the Year. In 2007, he received the Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award from Washington University in recognition of his service to the Salvation Army and his involvement with the Social Action Committee at BSKI. Earlier this year, Bill was honored by Kid’s Place – where he had served as Treasurer and President – as the inaugural recipient of their Galaxy Award.

The Jewish Community Foundation of St. Louis is a Jewish Federation service launched in 2005 to serve as a central place for long-term planned giving, to attract more endowments and build permanent community resources within one endowment structure. It is backed by 100+ years of Federation’s service as a trustee of the St. Louis Jewish community’s funds, which currently has more than $126 million in endowment assets and one of the largest unrestricted endowments of any North American Jewish Federation.