Diane Baum St. Clair’s Bequest to the Outer Banks Keeps Giving Back

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Model, Scholar, Hotelier, Philanthropist – Diane Baum St. Clair’s Bequest to the Outer Banks Keeps Giving Back

Diane Baum St. Clair made her mark on the Outer Banks in many ways. She ran away to New York City as a teenager, entered the world of high fashion, then left abruptly to pursue higher education from prestigious schools like Johns Hopkins and Yale universities, before returning home to help in the family’s businesses. During her adult life in Dare County, she generously gave back, supporting public, private, and philanthropic ventures in her small but growing oceanfront community.

Similarly, the Thomas and Annie Baum Memorial Fund has been giving back since its creation by bequest in 2005. Diane, who was Thomas and Annie’s daughter, made a gift in her will of $250,000 to the Outer Banks, through the Outer Banks Community Foundation, with instructions to establish a fund in memory of her parents, for “educational and cultural purposes.”

Between 2005 and 2021, more than $203,000 has been distributed from the Thomas and Annie Baum Memorial Fund to support 43 Community Foundation grants. During this same time period, the fund had grown–its assets are more than $300,000. The staying power of this Fund, and the gifts it has made and will continue make, will benefit people and places in Dare County for generations to come. This is the real beauty of bequests like Diane’s, and endowment funds at the Community Foundation. Also called “forever” funds, contributions into endowed funds are invested, and gifts are made each year from no more than 5% of a fund’s balance, averaged over three years.

Thomas, Annie, and Diane all lived remarkable lives, and they loved the Outer Banks well. We are still feeling that love and generosity today.

The Outer Banks Community Foundation accepts many different types of gifts – gifts of stock, property, or other assets; IRA distributions; and insurance beneficiary distributions, to name a few. Often, these gifts are made by bequest.

Do you love helping students get a college education? Seeing turtle hatchlings and sea creatures near our shores? Helping people who have special needs or circumstances? We can help you make your mark, by making a lasting gift for good. If you are writing or revising a will, and if the Outer Banks has been particularly good to you, we ask that you consider including a gift to the Outer Banks, through the Outer Banks Community Foundation. Call us at 252-261-8893 to get started.

Imagine the world of good your gift will do.