Why Bev and Lew Chose to Give Back to the Mentoring Alliance
When Bev and Lew began thinking about where they wanted to spend the next chapter of their lives, they weren’t looking for just a place to live. They were looking for a community.
After their children settled in San Francisco, the couple decided to leave their longtime home in Milwaukee and move to Sonoma. While many of their friends were heading to retirement destinations in other states, Sonoma offered something different: a small-town feel, a strong sense of community, and close proximity to family.
“It felt like home from the moment we arrived,” Bev says.
Over the past 15 years, Sonoma has become exactly that. And in return, Bev and Lew have dedicated countless hours to giving back to the community they love.
Their connection to the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance began through volunteerism. Lew served on the Board of Directors for several years, while both he and Bev became mentors. What started as a volunteer opportunity grew into lasting friendships that continue today.
Lew was matched with Brayan when he was in sixth grade at Altimira Middle School. In the early years, much of their time together was spent in the Mentor Center playing games, reading, and getting to know one another. As Brayan grew older, their activities expanded to hiking, basketball, lunches, and eventually golf.
“In high school, it became more one-on-one,” Lew recalls. “We’d go to the driving range, play golf, and spend time together.”
Their relationship didn’t end when Brayan graduated. Today, they still stay in touch.
For Bev, mentoring took a different but equally meaningful path. As a retired librarian, she naturally connected with her mentee Daisy through books and reading. In the beginning, Daisy struggled with reading, and Bev helped her while finding ways to make their time together fun and engaging.
“Daisy was very artistic,” Bev says. “We did lots of art projects together. As she got older, we played games. And if all else failed, we went for ice cream.”
Over time, their relationship evolved from mentor and mentee into a genuine friendship. Today, Daisy is a student at UC Santa Cruz, and the two remain connected.
Seeing firsthand the impact mentoring can have on a young person’s life reinforced something Bev and Lew already believed: every child deserves support, encouragement, and access to opportunities.
“Bev and I were fortunate,” says Lew. “We grew up with families who supported us through our education and helped us along the way. Not every child has that. The Mentoring Alliance helps fill that gap by connecting young people with caring adults who can encourage them and show them what’s possible.”
Their belief in the mission eventually inspired another commitment: including the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance in their estate plans.
As a retired estate planning attorney, Lew understood the importance of long-term philanthropy. During his time on the board, he encouraged the organization to create a more formal planned giving program and helped bring greater awareness to the importance of legacy gifts. “You never know when someone is thinking about their estate planning,” he says. “It has to be brought to the forefront periodically so it’s top of mind.”
Today, Bev and Lew are members of the Mentoring Alliance’s Legacy Circle, a group of supporters who have included the organization in their estate plans.
Their decision was simple. “We’ve seen firsthand what mentoring accomplishes,” Lew says. “It’s proven its success, and we know the organization will continue helping young people for many years to come. This is a way to support that future.”
They also want people to know that making a legacy gift doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. “When people hear estate planning, they often think they have to hire an attorney and spend a lot of money,” Lew says. “In reality, there are simple ways to do it.”
One of the easiest methods, he explains, is naming a charity as a beneficiary of a retirement account. “You don’t have to rewrite your entire estate plan. You can simply designate a percentage of your retirement account to a charity. It’s easy to do, and it can have a meaningful impact.”
For Bev and Lew, their planned gift is simply another extension of the values that brought them to Sonoma in the first place: community, connection, and caring for others.
“It’s amazing what this community does,” Bev says. “The involvement of so many people helping others is really unique. It’s nice to live in a place where people genuinely care.”
And through their legacy gift, that spirit of caring will continue for generations of young people to come.