Creating a legacy of compassion: Honoring Lorie Lindsley through an NCCF donor advised fund
Three and a half months.
That’s how much time Steve Lindsley and his family had after learning his wife, Lorie, had advanced pancreatic cancer. Doctors told them there was no cure.
“My wife was 56 years old when she died,” Steve said. “That’s far too soon.”
During those final months, the family focused on making the most of the time they had together. They talked about everything, from the details of Lorie’s memorial service to the future she knew she wouldn’t get to experience.
About halfway through Lorie’s cancer journey, Steve realized he needed a way for Lorie’s compassion to continue after she was gone. “I really needed something of her to hold onto and engage beyond that,” he said.
Working with the North Carolina Community Foundation, Steve established the Lorie S. Lindsley Compassionate Hearts Legacy Fund, an endowed donor advised fund created shortly before Lorie’s passing in July 2025 to support the causes closest to her heart, including animal welfare, children on the margins and organizations working to build a kinder, more compassionate world.
“When I think of Lorie, I describe her as a light,” Steve said. “A light brightens the world, but it doesn’t shine on itself. It’s always shining on someone else.”
After beginning her career as an attorney, Lorie left the legal profession to spend more time with her growing family. She later discovered a love for teaching while volunteering at her sons’ school and remained an educator until her death. She also devoted countless hours to rescuing animals and caring for people who often had no one to speak for them.
“I think the common thread,” Steve said, “was an affinity for those on the margins, those who have no voice.”
Those same values now guide the fund’s grantmaking. The first grants, awarded in 2026, supported Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control, Forgotten Now Family Rescue, Somos Siembra and West Side Community Land Trust.
Each year, Steve and his sons, Connor and Hunter, will review organizations together and decide where the fund can make the greatest impact. Eventually, Connor and Hunter will become the fund’s advisors, ensuring the fund can continue supporting the causes that mattered most to their mother for generations to come.
“I’m excited about the fact that every year the boys and I are going to be able to get together and think about this,” Steve said. “They’re already becoming aware of organizations and asking, ‘Is this something Mom’s fund could support?'”
Steve credits NCCF with helping establish the fund in time for friends and family to honor Lorie through memorial contributions. Today, NCCF handles the fund’s administration, allowing Steve and his family to focus on the fund’s charitable giving.
“The foundation has been a really empowering partner,” Steve said. “There was so much of her life that she did not get to live. I think this fund, in a way, allows that impact to continue to be felt.”