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Zion's Endowment Fund was established in 1985 for the purpose of enhancing the mission outreach of Zion Lutheran Church apart from the general operations of the congregation. The Fund welcomes gifts from Zion and Utica community members. Gifts can consist of memorials, bequests in wills, charitable remainder and other trusts, charitable gift annuities, assignment of life insurance and transfer of property, such as cash, stocks, bonds, or real estate. To-date, most gifts have been from bequests in wills.

The Endowment Fund Committee makes recommendations to the Church Council and Zion's congregation concerning charitable distributions from the Fund. The Fund's by-laws require yearly distributions. The distributions are divided among the following: one-quarter each to; community outreach, missions of the ELCA, special ministries of Zion Lutheran Church and Zion capital projects. Some past recipients include; Community Food Bank of Greater Utica, Your Neighbors, Family Nurturing Center, Believer's Miracle Deliverance Ministries, Sunset Neighborhood, Oneida County Habitat for Humanity, Lutheran Homes Foundation, Vanderkamp and ELCA Mount of Olives Housing Project.

In the twenty-three years of its existence, the Endowment Fund has received gifts and bequests of $143,000. Over this same period, distributions from the Fund now total $171,000. The market value of the Fund on December 31, 2007 was $217,400. Of note, distributions from the Fund exceed total contributions to the Fund, while the value of Fund holdings has grown by over $74,000 to a total of $217,400!

Contributions to the Zion Endowment Fund need not be just in the form of bequests in wills or trusts. Cash or checks, in any amount, in memory of a loved one or in honor of someone special, would be appropriate and welcomed. Our hopes and expectations are that additional gifts, coupled with Fund earnings, will cause the Fund value to increase so that Zion may play an ever larger part in fulfilling its mission in the world. Your endowment gift would be a part of that process.