Lutheran Services for the Aging
Wilson L. Smith and wife Evelyeen Smith have given $1 million to Lutheran Services for the Aging’s Keeping the Promise capital campaign, the organization announced today.
Wilson Smith, who co-founded Food Town, now Food Lion, with Ralph and Brown Ketner, said that his family is pleased to support Lutheran Services for the Aging.
“This campaign is critical in meeting the needs of our rapidly growing senior population,” he said. “We hope it will touch the lives of thousands of individuals and families for years to come.”
Lutheran Services President Ted W. Goins Jr. called the Smiths “extraordinary models of charitable giving” and said their generosity has benefited his organization in many ways.
“This recent planned gift, designed to support our Keeping the Promise capital campaign, is another example of their exceptional philanthropy,” Goins said.
The Keeping the Promise capital campaign seeks to raise at least $5 million in contributions to support the construction and equipping of four nursing homes and renovations at existing communities, including improvements to Salisbury’s Lutheran Home at Trinity Oaks.
Ronnie Smith, who is president of the Wilson L. Smith Family Foundation and was instrumental in establishing the gift on behalf of the family, called the donation a “win-win.”
“Many family friends, as well as members of our own family, have been residents at the Lutheran Home,” he said. “We know first hand of the quality care they have received.”
Burt Harris and Perry Hood, co-chairs of the Salisbury major gifts committee for the campaign, and the Rev. Carl Haynes, senior pastor at Christiana Lutheran Church and former bishop’s representative to the Lutheran Services for the Aging board of trustees, were also helpful in establishing the gift.
To learn more about the capital campaign, visit www.lsakeepingthepromise.org. To learn more about the mission and ministries of Lutheran Services for the Aging, visit www.LSANC.net or contact the organization’s office at 704-637-2870.