Help for Leonard Proctor
Dear Friend of Leonard Proctor,
The reason for this Go Fund Me campaign that Leonard Proctor, a longtime Potomac citizen and community presence, needs financial help. We are asking you to join us to ensure his sunset years are lived with dignity and peace of mind.
As you may know, Leonard (now age 88) worked for 45 year at the Mitch & Bill’s Exxon in Potomac, while also providing daily care of several local families’ horses and stables. Since his retirement from Mitch & Bills, he and his (non-deceased) wife Sue Lee continued to work for many more years as a private mechanic, horseman, bartender, caterer and/or driver and caregiver for many of “old Potomac’s” families.
As a result of their decades of hard work and many jobs, Leonard and Sue Lee purchased a small home in Derwood MD. He now lives in this home with help from his one surviving son Jerome. (For those who don’t already know, Leonard's older son, Lenny Jr., died in 2015.)
Recently, Leonard’s financial circumstances have become dire. He is no longer up to doing the various jobs he once did for others. As a result, his income is limited to his Social Security pension. He has exhausted his savings. And, the available equity in his home has been fully depleted through a decade long “reverse mortgage” arrangement.
Leonard Proctor has lived a frugal, humble and honorable life. A number of us have come together to ensure that Leonard is able to stay in his home, and is able to continue his life with dignity. He has agreed to let us take over handling his bill-paying, to avoid any (further) elder financial exploitation. We’re committed to help him to pay off household repair expenses that he has had to finance at rather exorbitant interest rates, (27.99%, to be specific). We are also pursuing the available of public assistance services.
We have two fundraising goals:
· First – to obtain sufficient funding thru immediate gifts and "future pledges" to supplement Leonard’s monthly financial needs for the rest of his life.
· Second – to pay down, as much as possible (and to the extent that we cannot prevail on loan forgiveness) his outstanding home improvement loans that have been financed at previously mentioned high interest rates – his roof replacement expense (currently $15,500.00) and HVAC system repair (currently $4600.00) Note that these debts have been “self perpetuating” because most of the monthly minimum payments, which is the amount that Leonard has been able to pay, has gone towards interest, not principal, on these loans.
We’ve estimated that Leonard will need a monthly supplement of $1,600.00 to augment his Social Security check. (As previously noted, he previously obtained additional funds through a reverse mortgage loan, which is now fully tapped out.) Any contribution would be appreciated
How to make contributions:
We have three different suggestions on how you can make contributions to this worthy cause –
1. Go Fund Me payments:
You can contribute to this cause through this Go Fund Me website. Alternatively, we can suggest the following other options -
2. Periodic, scheduled contributions to Leonard’s PNC Savings account.
We have just opened new PNC savings account in Leonard’s name for this purpose. We will also be overseeing the disbursements. Please contact either of us about details of how to set up this up. (Our contact information follows.)
3. Direct Gift Check to Leonard.
You could send a gift directly to Leonard –his mailing address is 7801 Jeremy Place, Derwood MD 20855. Or send it to one of us. (See our addresses below.) We will deposit any amounts we receive in the PNC savings account. (Note: original post had the wrong street address; it has now been corrected. Sorry for the error.)
We ask that you also consider a commitment to make future gifts as well. We know that this is not something to which we can put an end date. However, please remember for whom this charity is offered -- Mr.. Leonard Proctor –- a very special, now-elderly gentleman who has been a fellow companion to our lives – willing to do any job or activity to help out with a smile on his face, with never an unkind word to say about any one. It will be a tremendous benefit for him.
Our contact information for contributions, or in the event anyone has further questions is as follows:
Grace Janelle Straszheim
10812 Fox Hunt Lane
Potomac MD 20854
301-351-1284
[email redacted]
Devereaux Raskauskas
14709 Spring Meadow Drive
Darnestown MD 20875
[email redacted]
In closing: You have our assurance that all funds will be used ONLY for Leonard’s living and health needs. Secondly, we will be faithful stewards of these funds for Leonard’s exclusive benefit. (We are establishing a dual-control arrangement to assure adequate supervision of all financial receipts and expenditures.) Finally, donors and gift amounts will be kept confidential – other than disclosure to Leonard (unless otherwise requested).
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Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and for your help.
Most sincerely,
Janelle Straszheim &
Devereaux Raskauskas
