Fund Story

“Phil Sprague was a man who had passion for what he was doing and would bare his soul to get it done,” said Michael Brennan, co-chair of Unity Foundation, at a memorial service for Phil, who passed away in October 1999.

Many of us had the pleasure of knowing Phil in person. Many of us knew of him through his commitment to the growth and betterment of our community over past decades. Phil was a man of action, but he was much more. Add boundless enthusiasm, tenacity, joy, courage, generosity… and you have Phil!

It was Phil’s relentless passion for doing good that so helped launch the Unity Foundation in 1992. “Phil walked his talk and he understood the many ways to use our community foundation to help La Porte County. He was a living symbol of what Unity is all about,” remarked Maggi Spartz.

Phil envisioned creating a culture of philanthropy in LaPorte County, freely giving his time, talent, and treasure to benefit everyone. In 1999, he instituted the Care & Share project to teach LaPorte County area school children about the joy of philanthropy.

“Few of us will ever know the number of lives Phil has touched and made better. But because of his energy, enthusiasm and good, more lives than you can imagine will benefit from the life of Phil Sprague in years to come. And as he said it to me, ‘That’s what it’s all about,”‘ concludes Mike Brennan.

  • Your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
  • You will receive a tax receipt electronically for your records once your donation is processed.
  • Gifts by credit card incur a processing fee for each transaction which will be deducted from your gift. The current fee is 3.5% per transaction. When donating online, we invite you to select the option to increase your gift to cover this fee so that your charitable intent can be fully realized.
  • If you would like to make a one-time or recurring payment from a bank account, please contact the Unity Office at (219) 879-0327 or unity@uflc.net.
  • If you prefer to donate by check, our mailing address is 422 Franklin St, Suite C, Michigan City, IN 46360. Please include the fund name(s) you wish to donate to in the memo line.