Man lived modestly all his life—he was building a $13 million surprise for the community the entire time
One man lived quietly and frugally, never drawing attention to himself. In the end, he changed the fate of countless charities. He left his entire estate worth $13 million to a charity. As the person, Terry Kahn, didn't specify which charity he would like to donate his money to, his attorney, Dwayne Isaacs, made calls to over a dozen charities offering them a sum of $1 million each. Everyone who received the call was beyond shocked, per CBS News.
Kahn worked at the Veterans Administration for 30 years before his death in 2021. He had no immediate family to bequeath his wealth to. Nonetheless, people who knew Kahn might have never guessed that he had such a huge net worth, as he had an incredibly modest lifestyle, according to Isaacs. The attorney and the executor of Kahn's estate even went as far as to call him "just unbelievably frugal." The man lived in a simple house in south Indianapolis, drove an old Honda and refused to keep a cellphone because those are "expensive." He even refused to get an obituary printed because he didn't think it was worth spending money on it. Kahn just wanted all his money to get donated to a good cause, but didn't specify anything.
So after his death, Isaacs took on the task of calling several charities and seeing if anyone wanted the money and ended up dividing it among a dozen charities. Teachers' Treasures, a store that sells free supplies for educators in the region, was one of the beneficiaries. The executive director of the charity, Margaret Sheehan, was quite surprised when she received a call from someone offering her over $1 million. "It was an act of amazing kindness to which I responded, 'I need to sit down,'" Sheehan recalled. They ended up receiving $1.5 million, which is twice the annual budget of the organization. "Forever changed because of his choice and how he lived," Sheehan added.
Many other charities recounted the feeling of receiving that unbelievable call. "The first thing he said was, 'What would you do with $1 million?'" Emmy Hildebrand, CEO of the group Helping Veterans and Families of Indiana, remembered listening. "We hovered above our own bodies, thinking, like, is this real?" Julie Henson, the vice president of development at Coburn Place, a charity known for providing support and housing to survivors of domestic violence, expressed. Isaacs pointed out that most people had such a reaction and a few of them even refused to believe what he was saying. "Probably three or four different entities that lost out because they just didn't take my call," the attorney revealed. "He's smiling somewhere, there's no doubt about it. He would be getting a kick out of this," he added about Kahn.
People appreciated the man's unbelievable generosity in the comments section of the video. @sbalman wrote, "What a truly great human being! We idolize sports figures, celebrities, billionaires, yet this angel did what we all should be doing....living for others." @Zoe-c9z commented, "I will never forget the man who worked at the post office, who gave away scholarships to students every year until he died." @CS-qc7np remarked, "He enjoyed the fruits of his labor. He was a frugal individual, which means he didn’t have to spend a lot to enjoy life. Frugal people come up with ways to enjoy life that don’t require them to live a lifestyle of consumerism."