The YLD will be hosting another Wills for Heroes event in the near future for our Franklin County Sheriff's Department. The event will be held at the Franklin County Bar Association office. Maybe you have helped with these events in the past or maybe you don't really know what the program does! Either way I'd like to share a bit of information about the program and encourage you to become involved or, if you have already involved, help you realize the importance of the volunteer work you are doing!

 

I personally feel that Wills for Heroes is a very worthwhile and important program because it gives back to the community and protects those who protect us. The Franklin County YLD has participated in this program for many years, although we did have a gap in events a few years ago due to a turn-over in coordinators which took some time due to mandatory training through the PBA.

FCBA YLD WFH coordinator Alexandra Sipe at 2016 WFH event

 

So what is Wills for Heroes? 

WFH began as a program to provide essential legal documents free of charge to our nation's first responders. The fundamental purpose of the program is to provide those on the frontlines for our personal safety with the tools they need to prepare adequately for the future. By helping first responders plan now, they ensure their family's legal affairs are in order before a tragedy hits. To accomplish this goal, volunteer attorneys prepare wills, living wills, and powers of attorney for these first responders. According to the Wills for Heroes Foundation, eligible first responders include firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical responders, and corrections and probation officers from federal, state, county, city and town departments and agencies, including retired and volunteer first responders. In 2017, the Pennsylvania Bar Association announced that the WFH program would begin to include veterans.

 

	Kevin Taccino at 2009 WFH event

Why did this program come to be? 

WFH was started by Anthony Hayes, a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, LLP, in Columbia, South Carolina, shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Anthony asked the Columbia Fire Department what lawyers could do to help that department and it was quite clear that there was a need for estate planning services. According to a November 12, 2007, Forbes magazine article, a PNC Wealth Management survey found 30% of adults with investable assets of $500,000 did not have a will; the same article references a Harris Interactive survey done for lawyers.com that found that 55% of the general population had no will. According to the Wills for Heroes Foundation, those numbers are even lower for the first responder community; despite the inherently dangerous nature of their jobs, an overwhelmingly large number of first responders - approximately 80-90% do not have even simple wills according to experiential data and feedback from first responder organizations.

Deborah Dresser Neiderer and Annie Gómez Shockey at 2010 WFH event

 

Well, who is in charge of our WFH program?

In 2016, Alexandra "Alex" Sipe took over for Kevin Taccino as our Wills for Heroes Coordinator for the YLD. Alex Sipe began working with Tucker Maxwell as a Law Clerk in 2012 and became a Partner at Maxwell Sipe Law Offices in 2014. Alex handles estate planning, estate administration, small business planning, and elder law. She is a 2013 graduate of The Dickinson School of Law and a 2010 graduate of Dickinson College. Alex, her husband, and their two children (Max is five years old and Hank is three years old) live in Carlisle. Alex is heavily involved in our community, including the Rotary Club of Waynesboro, Mainstreet Waynesboro, and Waynesboro Day Care. (Oh, and to answer everyone's favorite question - yes, Alex and I think that her husband and I are distantly related, though that's a story for another day!)

 

Kristen Hamilton at 2011 WFH event

Where have the events been recently? 

Since Alex took over, we have hosted three Wills for Heroes events and, besides the upcoming March event, we have plans to host another Wills for Heroes event at the Franklin Fire Company in September. The most recent event was held on November 16, 2018 at the Franklin County Bar Association office where we provided legal documents to members of our very own Sheriff's Office. Approximately ten people were provided with services. In March of 2018, the YLD hosted an event at Franklin Fire Company which is a 100% volunteer fire fighter company that responds to hundreds of calls each year. We were able to serve approximately sixteen people on that day. Alex's inaugural event was held in October of 2017 at Orrstown Church for the veterans at Letterkenny. We were able to assist twelve people in obtaining prepared documents.

 

	Barb Townsend and Samantha Wolfe at 2017 WFH event

When and how do I get involved? 

(Great question, by the way!) As I mentioned, our next event will be held soon (likely by the end of April) and we are always looking for volunteers! Watch the Causeway and your emails for opportunities to volunteer at these events. Alex has been working hard to ensure that we have an event every six months, and for good reason! We rely on preparer volunteers to operate the HotDocs program which churns out the prepared documents. All volunteers need to complete a two-hour training (which does count for free CLE credits) in order to prepare the documents; however, if you have had the training within the last six months or assisted at an event within the last six months, you can forgo the training. In other words, if you participate in training once and continue to volunteer regularly, you come to the events a little later and avoid the training!

 

Now that you know about this great program, I hope you'll consider donating some of your time to ensure that these folks who work to serve our community each day are prepared for the future!