Honor Your Father and Mother
Michael Baum never dreamed anyone would ever call him a philanthropist. To his mind, he?s just a ?regular, hard-working guy? who?s about to retire after 30 years as a postal inspector. But to his delight, that?s exactly what he?s become after he, his brother Robert, and their wives, Prosper and Allison, established the Col. Jack L. and Pauline Baum Memorial Endowment Fund in loving memory of Michael and Robert?s parents.

Although the idea for the Named Continuity Fund originated with Michael, brother Robert was enthusiastic about it from the start. ?I had no idea you could set up a Fund for so little and it?s such a wonderful way to honor our parents. It does good work in their names and it keeps their memory alive. Fifty years from now, there?ll be homeless children who have a place to live because of Jack and Pauline Baum.?

The Col. Jack L. and Pauline Baum Memorial Endowment Fund provides support for the JFCS Dream House, which offers refuge and renewal to homeless women and children. ?If you don?t have a home, food, and people who care about you, you have to focus on survival,? explains Michael. ?Dream House helps women in need get the shelter, nourishment and caring they need to build a happy life for themselves and their children.?

Building a happy life for their children, being committed to family and friends, and giving generously of themselves were what Jack and Pauline Baum were all about. Whether it was tutoring the neighboring children in math, or making the long trek from Queens to Manhattan every day when Robert was hospitalized for four months, Jack and Pauline Baum embodied what it means to be loving, caring parents. And the values they stood for-honesty, integrity, patience, loyalty, kindness to others-have made their boys into the men they are today. So it is only fitting their legacy lives on in this tribute lovingly created by their sons.

For more information about the JFCS Dream House, click here.