You can create your own legacy by leaving all or a portion of your estate to charity. Such a gift can reflect your personal values and beliefs while making a difference in the lives of others. Here are five things to consider when leaving an estate gift to charity:

MAKE A WILL

To leave an estate gift to charity, you must make a will. Otherwise, your estate will pass on intestacy to your next of kin.

ENSURE THAT YOUR WILL MAKES ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR YOUR DEPENDENTS

Before you can make an estate gift to charity, your will must make some provision for your dependents, if any. Dependents in British Columbia include your spouse, your minor children and, in most instances, your adult children, even if they are financially independent. If your will does not make adequate provision, your dependants can commence litigation challenging your will.

The Community Prize is a gift in kind of up to $15,000 worth of tire-derived products (such as, but not limited to, recycled rubber mulch, playground surfacing, patio tiles, and sidewalk pavers) from OTS registered Recycled Product Manufacturers (RPMs). The OARA member that collects the most used tires from residents in their area during the event period (May 28-June 2) will be able to designate a local, non-profit community project to receive this gift in kind.

This could mean innovative upgrades to our parks and playgrounds, eco-friendly renovations to our community facilities like new athletic flooring, and more durable sidewalks or roofing for our public spaces.

The Boston Pizza Foundation raises funds for a variety of local, regional and national charities across Canada, including the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, Kids Help Phone and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Since 1993, the Boston Pizza Valentine’s Day program has raised more than $4.6 million.

“We are grateful to all of our guests across the country who were hungry to make a difference by enjoying thousands of heart-shaped pizzas in support of the Boston Pizza Foundation,” says Cheryl Treliving, Executive Director of the Boston Pizza Foundation. “With the dedication and hard work of so many at Boston Pizza, we were able to raise over $614,000, the most in the 20 year history of the program.”

Read the full article here.

The St. Vincent de Paul society has issued a call to stop the illegal dumping at its 35 bins. It’s a problem that costs the charity more than $5,000 last year.

General manager Alexis Strahl said she often finds — and is grateful for — usable donations. But she also finds garbage in the bins.

Read the full article here.

Statistics Canada data released Monday show that tax filers claimed just under $8.3-billion in 2010, up 6.5 per cent from 2009. At the same time, the number of donors increased 2.2 per cent to just over 5.7 million Canadians.

While the percentage of Canadians claiming donations has been steadily dropping since 1997, the figure also climbed back slightly to 23.4 per up from the all-time low of 23.1 per cent.

The national median donation was $260 in 2010, which was also $10 more than the median in 2009.

Read the full article here.

When Tana Silverland landed in Canada in June 2010 from the United Kingdom, she immediately set out on a cross-country odyssey to visit as many Canadian communities as possible.

Read the full article here.

Furtado said in February she would donate the money from a 2007 show in Italy for members of Gadhafi’s family.

She made this latest announcement Tuesday at a youth empowerment day organized by Canadian co-founders of Free the Children.

Read the full article here.