NCCF announces $20 million transformative gift

           The North Carolina Community Foundation (NCCF) has been named administrator of a $20 million endowment resulting from the planned giving legacy of noted Wilmington, NC philanthropist Louise Oriole Burevitch, according to an announcement made by Jennifer Tolle Whiteside, NCCF CEO and president.
            Tolle Whiteside said the endowment would have a “transformative effect” on eastern North Carolina and many of the causes important to Burevitch. “Endowment gifts of this size are truly a permanent asset, not only for local communities, but in many cases entire regions,” she said. “Mrs. Burevitch’s legacy will be felt throughout the entire eastern North Carolina region for generations to come.”
             Burevitch died at the age of 97 in September of 2014, and soon thereafter NCCF was notified of the bequest to the endowment it had already established in 2008 at her direction.                      
             NCCF Vice President of Development Beth Boney Jenkins had worked with Burevitch for many years on philanthropic matters and said her charitable interests were wide-ranging, with a primary focus on animal causes, education initiatives and support of women and children.  “Mrs. B, as we called her, loved people and animals, which was evident not only in her charitable giving, but also in the legions of friends and admirers she had,” Jenkins said. “She never met a stranger.”
            NCCF is in the process of establishing a grants committee that will administer a grants program for the areas of interest identified by Burevitch. The committee is expected to be named by the summer of 2015.
           Born in Badin, NC, Burevitch was preceded in death by her husbands, Arthur Louis Oriole and William Robert Burevitch. The obituary that ran in the Wilmington Star-News also noted that her beloved dogs, Buffy, Chelsea and Jake, also preceded her in death. NCCF just posted a longer feature story on the life of “Mrs. B,” available here. “Her story of generosity is one that definitely deserves to be told,” Jenkins said.