They don’t know what Taranaki will need. But they know they want their gift to be there to help.

Most people know they should have an up-to-date Will. They know it matters. They just keep thinking they will get around to it one day.

That was the experience of Loren Anderson and Joel Zimmerman too.

“Most people don’t put off updating their Will because they don’t care. They put it off because it feels like a big conversation they will get to ‘one day’. Life gets busy and topics like Wills and legacy planning can seem complicated or uncomfortable. That was our experience too. We knew it was important, but it wasn’t until we were updating our Wills after having our son Abel that we finally took action,” Loren says.

When Loren and Joel met with lawyer Scott Chamberlain at Connect Legal back in 2021, they were focused on the practicalities of updating their Wills and making sure their young family was looked after.

Then Scott asked them a question.

Had they considered leaving a gift to their community?

For Loren and Joel, the answer was an immediate yes.

“Both Joel and I immediately said yes and were able to agree on an approach without hesitation. It wasn’t something we needed to discuss. We were already aligned in our desire to give back to a community that has supported us throughout our lives.”

That simple question turned an intention they had talked about for years into action. The couple chose to leave a gift in their Wills through Taranaki Foundation, creating a fund with a broad purpose so it can support the region where the need is greatest in the future.

Giving back to Taranaki

For Loren and Joel, Taranaki is more than the place they call home. It is where both their family stories began.

Loren’s family has been farming in coastal Taranaki since the 1800s. Joel’s family arrived from Poland in the 1800s and settled in Inglewood.

Today, they have built their own lives and careers in the region and say Taranaki has been good to both their families.

Giving back has become an important part of that connection. Over the past decade, they have both been involved in volunteering, mentoring and community initiatives, with Loren also previously a member of the Taranaki Foundation Board.

“It’s always been a long-term objective of ours to give something back to the community,” Joel says.

“Giving through Taranaki Foundation is just common sense for us really. It meets our long-term objective of giving back to the community in a lasting way.”

The couple have deliberately chosen not to decide today what their gift should support in the future. Instead, they are trusting Taranaki Foundation to respond to whatever the community needs when the time comes.

“I’m confident that our gift will go to where the greatest need is at the time. We realise the problems of today might be different to the problems of tomorrow,” Joel says.

For Loren and Joel, that is part of what makes this gift so meaningful. They do not know what Taranaki will need in the future, but they know they want their gift to be there to help.

The other side of the table

There is another interesting layer to Loren and Joel’s story.

Today, Joel is General Manager at Auld Brewer Mazengarb McEwen, while Loren is a Business Advisor at UNLIMIT. Both spend their working lives helping people make important decisions, plan for the future and navigate change.

Having recently been through the Wills process themselves, they have a different perspective on those conversations now, understanding how easy it is to put them off, even when you know they matter.

Sometimes, someone just needs to ask

For professional advisors, raising the possibility of charitable giving is not about encouraging a particular decision. It is about making sure clients have considered all the options available to them. As Scott Chamberlain explains, “clients often want to do ‘something’ but are not sure how. It is about giving clients a complete picture of the decisions they are making, and that includes thinking about their legacy”.

“Sometimes it’s simply a straight, ‘No thank you, we’re all good.’ But other times, it’s something people give thought to for the first time in that room, in that moment, and it can grow into something much more.”

For many people, he says, it is not that they are hesitant. They simply have not thought about what giving back could look like as part of their Will.

“Loren and Joel liked the idea of not trying to control exactly how their gift would be used in the future. Discussing those ideas with the Foundation helped turn the concept of wanting to do something into a really meaningful legacy.”

For Loren and Joel, being asked the question was valuable even though they already had a strong understanding of Taranaki Foundation.

“It’s interesting being on the other side of the table, for sure,” Loren says. “Even though we both have a strong understanding of Taranaki Foundation, there is a lot to think about when you’re updating your Wills and memorandums of wishes.

“It was great to have Scott facilitate the conversation and cover all possible aspects and scenarios, and really just help to prompt ideas without any pressure or judgement of our answers.”

 

For Loren and Joel, the birth of their son Abel brought new clarity. Updating their Wills became an opportunity to formalise their commitment to giving back to their community for generations to come.

From “one day” to done

For Loren, the biggest change came from having someone guide the conversation and ask the right questions.

“Once we started talking about what mattered most to us, the decisions were actually quite straightforward.”

Her advice to others is simple.

“My advice would be to start before you feel completely ready. You don’t need all the answers upfront. Taking the first step brings clarity, and there’s real peace of mind in knowing you’ve put plans in place that reflect your values and the legacy you would like to leave.”

For Loren and Joel, that first step has become a lasting commitment to the region they love.

Their gift through Taranaki Foundation will one day support the community their families have called home for generations, and the place where they have chosen to raise their own family.

And in time, it will become part of the legacy they pass on to Abel.

And it all started with one simple question.

Have you considered leaving something for your community?