Chuck and Liz Graf create safety net for future cadets with planned gift
As the very first Cadet to enroll in Embry-Riddle’s Air Force ROTC program, Chuck Graf (‘75, DB) has a special place in his heart for what has become the largest university Air Force ROTC Detachment in the nation. Not because he was first, but because the scholarship he received to participate in the program gave him and Liz, his high-school sweetheart and wife of 39 years, an opportunity for a better life.
It’s that kind of turning point that Chuck and Liz hope to create for other deserving Air Force ROTC students with their planned gift to Embry-Riddle. By designating Embry-Riddle as the beneficiary of their donor advised fund, they will create a needs-based scholarship for AFROTC students who show great leadership qualities but might need financial help to continue their studies.
“There are a lot of great potential leaders out there who, for various reasons, might not have the highest grades, but have the ability and potential to do great things,” Chuck explains. “We want to help them stay in school and be successful in their careers. It will give them a safety net that wasn’t there before and hopefully create those turning points that meant so much to us.”
Now happily “retired” back home in Florida after Chuck’s 25-year career in the Air Force and 12 years as a principal engineer for Lockheed Martin, the couple has returned to the source of their good fortune, getting involved with Chuck’s old detachment and giving back where they can. They attend commissioning ceremonies, serve as mentors, and host dinners at their home for soon-to-be graduating cadets. Recently, Chuck was asked to become an Honorary Commander at the detachment, which he accepted as a great honor.
“Interacting with Detachment 157 struck a chord,” Chuck says. “It brought back a flood of memories and reminders of our own situation as students and of those who went out of their way to help when we needed it the most.”
After talking with Col. Stephen Luxion, the current AFROTC Commander, Chuck and Liz learned there were a number of cadets who could use financial help to stay in the program. “Chuck and Liz wanted to see what they could do to help those cadets who were struggling, but have all the leadership potential to succeed in this program,” Luxion says.
That’s when the couple decided to set up a donor advised fund that would allow them to direct charitable gifts to the causes they cared about most. It also allowed them to designate Embry-Riddle as the beneficiary, so their intentions could be carried out well beyond their lifetimes.
“Setting up the agreement with Embry-Riddle was easy,” Chuck says. “Now we know that what we are trying to do with our gift will be executed.”
Liz calls it “an opportunity to touch the future” by investing in tomorrow’s leaders. “When we talk with the ROTC cadets, we see they are clearly willing to help their country and use their talents toward making the United States a better place,” she says. “We want to make it easier for them to make that commitment.”