Gift of a Lifetime
Deacon Dave Poole and his wife, Margie, pose inside St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Burkburnett on October 3, 2023. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
Deacon Dave Poole and his wife Margie have made stewardship a major part of their faith life for their entire marriage, even during times of reduced income. But when Laura Sotelo, Catholic Charities Fort Worth director of endowment, asked them to consider making a planned gift to CCFW as part of their will, they were at first taken aback.
“Once you get over the initial ‘What?!’ and you start thinking about it, you realize it’s just an extension of the faith we have tried to live our whole lives,” Dcn. Poole explained.
“It does take you by surprise,” Margie added. “But if you pray about it and talk about it, then it makes so much sense.”
And that’s what they did — for a year.
During their discernment, they realized that a planned gift would continue the stewardship they had practiced for decades. And they knew their adult children would understand because “they have lived it with us,” Dcn. Poole said.
“We found it was a powerful way for us to directly impact future generations,” Margie explained. “Everything we have, God has given to us. So, we felt it was up to us to continue to provide resources to help Catholic Charities end poverty and transform the lives of their clients.”
Margie and Dcn. Poole have volunteered with CCFW since attending their first Creating Hope luncheon in Wichita Falls in 2014. As CCFW clients shared their personal stories during the mission-centered fundraiser, Margie “totally fell in love with the mission of Catholic Charities.”
She began volunteering with CCFW’s fund development and major gifts. From 2016 to 2019, she was the agency’s major gift officer. During that time, Dcn. Poole also volunteered there for a year as part of his deaconate formation. Currently Margie is on the CCFW Northwest Campus Advisory Board.
The couple live in Burkburnett where Margie is the city clerk and Dcn. Poole is the business manager for the St. Jude Thaddeus Parish. He serves as deacon there and at Christ the King Parish in Iowa Park and St. Paul Parish in Electra.
Sotelo said 118 people have contributed to the endowment, either with cash donations or planned gifts, since it began in 2011. Most donors give a percentage of their overall estate or life insurance, or they donate a set cash amount from their estate, she added. She pointed out that the investment income from the nearly $15,000,000 endowment supports various CCFW programs, and donors may designate which program their gift will support.
Dcn. Poole summed up his spiritual motivation for planned giving.
“We’re called to love everybody we encounter in this life and to be Jesus for them,” he said. “Planned giving is a way, even when we are not here, to continue bringing Christ into lives of other people.”