10 people close to the family are invited to become part of a Community of Elders and maintain a financial and emotional connection to the child and the family. We suggest picking individuals who wish to commit to support the child beyond the monthly donation. Participation in the program will create a solid community of individuals interested in the lifelong welfare of this child. Selecting the Community of Elders can be simpler than might be assumed. To the right is just one example of a typical Elders group.

We recommend that each member of the Community of Elders commit to $11 per month, for the first 20 years of the child’s life. That is not set in stone as this is beyond a reasonable financial commitment for many individuals. Those who can do more will do more, and those with lesser means will do less. Parents want to invite all the people they want in their child’s Community of Elders regardless of their ability to financially participate or level of participation.

Ideally, you will select the necessary number of Community of Elders that can commit to a combined total of at least $110 dollars per month (10 people each donating $11, with $1 covering expenses). The donations will occur through an automatic electronic transfer from the Elders’ checking accounts, credit cards, or other financial services. Only one decision will be necessary, and the distributions will automatically stop on the child’s 20th birthday.

For the fun of it, we also suggest having at minimum a yearly gathering of the Community of Elders to report on the progress of the child and to enjoy being a community of support for the family and child. By the way, birthdays, holidays, and graduations are also wonderful occasions for new and old friends to not only gather but to also make additional contributions to the child’s TFAC Trust Fund. These small contributions can significantly increase the monthly distributions to the child their entire adult life, particularly as they are approaching or in retirement. It can also be fun calculating what will be the monthly distributions to the child their entire life based on how the TFAC Trust Fund assets are growing and realizing how much greater it would be with the contributions of small contributions when still a child.