ADIRONDACK COUNCIL
RECEIVES LARGEST BEQUEST IN ITS HISTORY
Long-Time Supporters Honor Adirondack Council in Will with Generous
Donation
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Monday, March 27, 2006
TUPPER LAKE, N.Y. – The
Adirondack Council announced today that it had received the largest
single bequest in the organization’s 31-year history, from
the estate of Joan and Joseph F. Cullman, 3rd, who spent summers
together here. Both were avid conservationist and outdoors enthusiasts.
The donation from the Cullman
estate amounted to $440,000. It will be placed in the Adirondack
Council’s Forever Wild Fund. Both Cullmans had been members
and supporters of the Adirondack Council for more than two decades.
They had also been generous benefactors to other environmental
causes and local charities.
“During their lifetimes,
Joan and Joe Cullman provided support and advice that helped
to sustain the Adirondack Council and its mission,” said
Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. “Now,
in their final wishes, they have set aside another large sum
to ensure that we will continue to be a vital force in shaping
the future of the Adirondack Park. We are deeply grateful that
we had a chance to call them our friends and we are humbled by
this final act of generosity.
“In 1995, Joe Cullman was
a special honoree at an Adirondack Council benefit dinner held
at the Central Park Boathouse in Manhattan,” Houseal said.
“Cullman spoke of his long time love affair with the Adirondacks
and his very real appreciation of the vital role the Adirondack
Council plays in maintaining the wild character and ecological
integrity of the Adirondack Park.”
In his letter confirming his
charitable intention, Joseph Cullman said: “I think you
know how important the Adirondacks are to me, and I hope this
gift will help preserve their future.”
Joseph Cullman, former Chairman
Emeritus of the Philip Morris Corp., passed away on April 30,
2004. He was a member of the Adirondack Council’s Advisory
Board from 1996 until his passing. Joan Cullman, a Tony-winning
theater and Hollywood feature film producer, died March 18, 2004.
All gifts received by the Adirondack
Council through estate planning, including the Cullmans’
bequest, become part of the Council’s Forever Wild Fund.
The impact of any gift, when combined with other bequests, is
magnified, creating a lasting legacy for Adirondack Park protection.
The Forever Wild Fund is a board-directed,
rainy-day fund designed to give the organization the flexibility
to take on immediate, unforeseen and expensive strategic projects
without endangering the organization’s long-term security.
The Forever Wild Fund now stands at more than $2.5 million. The
Council’s annual operating budget is $1.2-million, with
a full time staff of 14 and offices in Elizabethtown and Albany.
For information about including
the Adirondack Council in your estate plans, please call 877-873-2240
(toll-free). The Adirondack Council strongly advises anyone creating
or altering estate plans to consult their attorney,
The Adirondack Council’s
mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character
of the Adirondack Park. Founded in 1975, the Council is an 18,000-member,
privately funded, not-for-profit organization with members in
all 50 United States.
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