Mary Benson Palmer BA ’68 always felt connected to the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC), even when moving around as a child.
“We didn’t always live in a town with a Covenant church, but when it came time for college, I knew I wanted to attend a smaller liberal arts school, and that was North Park,” she said.
During the era Palmer attended North Park, women generally took education classes alongside their majors with the expectation they might teach one day. So when Palmer later earned a mathematics degree, the acts of teaching and helping people do their taxes became intertwined for her.
After working in accounting for a while, Palmer joined the Covenant Trust Board of Directors, where she served until she was asked to direct the capital campaign for the Brandel Library. “That started my lifelong giving to North Park.”
She went on to establish the Benson Family Scholarship to North Park Theological Seminary, honoring her father and his siblings. “They were always very supportive of the seminary and the Covenant Church, and this was my way of giving back and ensuring their legacy by helping others.”
Palmer currently gives via her IRA deductions, which she encourages for anyone who has reached that “magic age” when withdrawals are required. “I have my funds at Covenant Trust, and they just let me know how much I need to take out and donate every year,” Palmer said. “It couldn’t be easier.”
When reflecting on her time at North Park, Palmer spoke fondly of the friendships she made and continues to have with her classmates. “There are five of us who started at North Park together in the fall of 1964, and we’ve taken a trip together every year since 1999. We met at 18 in Chicago and became friends; it’s a different type of friendship that you form when living together at that age.”
Vibrant memories from her time at North Park and the relationships she formed are another reason Palmer chooses to give toward scholarships like the Promise Scholarship fund, which encourages Covenant and STEM students to attend North Park.
“I’ve always been very interested in getting more Covenant students to attend North Park, and this is one way I can support that goal,” she said.
If you are 70 1⁄2 or older and have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), you can contribute up to $100,000 each year to your favorite nonprofit organization (North Park, of course!) as a qualified charitable distribution. This satisfies the required minimum distribution and decreases your taxable income. Distributions must be completed by December 31. Contact the Office of Advancement for more information: advancement@northpark.edu or (773) 244-5790.