Charlotte Talkington’s home in early spring was filled with seedlings waiting to be planted as soon as the ground was warm enough. As a Master Gardener, she planned her summer garden while carefully nurturing the tiny plants that occupied sunny spots around her house. Just as she planned for the future of her garden, Charlotte is also planning for the future of WILL. She has made a gift to the WILL Future Fund that will help WILL’s stations grow and thrive.

Her gift will help ensure that future generations can enjoy WILL’s non-commercial radio and television. “My gift is my way of nurturing WILL for the future,” says Charlotte, of Bloomington, Ill.

As an alumnus of the University of Illinois, Charlotte decided to make a planned gift to the university that would support education in the larger sense through the programming of WILL AM-FM-TV.

“I could have chosen to give a scholarship to one individual, but that meets just one person’s needs, not a general community need,” says Charlotte, who taught home economics education at Illinois State University before her retirement in 1994. “I decided to do something a little different and make a gift to WILL.”

Charlotte received her masters’ degree in vocational education from the U of I, but now her main contact with the university is through WILL, the university’s broadcasting service. “I like to listen to WILL-FM because it’s very refreshing and relaxing,” she says. “And when I’m in the car, I enjoy listening to WILL-AM 580.” She especially enjoys WILL-AM’s local talk shows, Focus 580 and The Afternoon Magazine. “So much of radio isn’t local and doesn’t meet the needs of the community. It’s important that people have the choice to listen to local programming,” she says.

Charlotte, who maintains a busy schedule of volunteer activities, made her planned gift in the form of a life insurance policy. “I chose that type of gift because I could take a smaller amount of money and multiply it many times. It was an excellent way for me to get a tax break and provide a gift to WILL,” she says. “I was able to write off the entire premium for the policy. Of course, I hope WILL has to wait several years to get their money!”.