dandelion in a field

Planned Giving & Legacy Planning

Legacy gifts allow you to blend your personal philanthropic goals with estate planning needs. A legacy gift creates a lasting relationship between you and the Ecology Center and provides protection for the people and planet you love.

By pledging a legacy gift, you will become part of The Julia Morris and Ann Hubbell Society.

To create your legacy with the Ecology Center and to continue to defend your philanthropic goals, contact Ronza Potter.

The Julia Morris and Ann Hubbell Society

The Julia Morris and Ann Hubbell Society was named in honor of two lifelong environmental advocates who chose to remember the Ecology Center with generous estate gifts.

Julia Morris was an active supporter of the Ecology Center and our work since the organization’s earliest days. We have records of her financial contributions and volunteer involvement dating back to the early 1970s. She introduced recycling, clean energy, and environmental stewardship into all aspects of her life and community, even financing the purchase and installation of solar panels at Huron High School in the early 2000’s. She was an avid and generous supporter of our work and often provided matching funds to encourage individual donations to the Ecology Center’s year-end appeals. Upon her death in 2005, her bequest marked the first gift of over six figures made to the organization. Both of Julia’s daughters have carried on her environmental activism, and one of them, Beverly Ghesquiere, is currently the Ecology Center’s Treasurer.

Ann Hubbell supported the Ecology Center’s work at least as far back as the early 1980’s. She was active in progressive politics, with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Democratic Party, and other organizations. Hubbell was a leading Ypsilanti activist on the two major Washtenaw county land preservation campaigns (1998, 2000), the second of which was led by the Ecology Center. She worked as a piano teacher, giving classes from her home in the Normal Park neighborhood. She made faithful annual contributions to the Ecology Center, and upon her death in 2010, bequeathed her entire estate to the Ecology Center.

Just like many of our supporters, Julia and Ann passionately believed in our mission of healthy people and a healthy planet. They prove that everyone can make a difference- and leave a legacy - through a personal commitment to environmental action.