Giving Back One Step at a Time

January 2025

Jerry and Virva Sandorf are new members of the Fox Society who enjoy being part of the Ensign College community. They have been donating to Philanthropies for more than 20 years; they first started donating to their alma mater, BYU, and have recently begun donating to Ensign College.

The Sandorfs’ love for Ensign College started several years ago when, after retiring, Jerry decided he wanted to transition from the business world to the academic world to fill his time and make a difference in his community. After watching an interview with President Kusch, he decided to give Ensign College a call to see if he could get involved. “When I called Ensign, I asked them, ‘Do you have anything for me to do?’ A week later, I had a missionary badge on, and I was serving a mission at Ensign College.”

Jerry first started serving in the alumni outreach program. Later, he was asked to teach some marketing classes. He enjoys being able to help the students, and he delighted in the message and goals of Ensign. Now, a year after completing his mission, he works as a faculty member and continues to teach marketing and business strategy courses.

The Sandorfs have come to love the Ensign College faculty, staff, missionaries, and students, and they can see that the school is home to a special community. “We talk about a Zion society, and a Zion society is of one heart and one mind regardless of gender, nationality, language, anything like that. That’s what I’ve discovered at Ensign College,” says Jerry.

The Sandorfs feel it is a covenant community at Ensign. “It’s beautiful to be able to come to a place where you can feel the Spirit,” Jerry says. “You can feel the love of God. And it doesn’t matter where the people are from. It is just pervasive throughout the institution. To us, it’s the model of what Zion looks like. . . . It’s just all one big body of believers together seeking the same thing. So that’s why a few years ago, we added Ensign College into our legacy plan.”

Virva finds fulfillment in impacting the students’ lives through the Fox Society. She says, “Let’s be good stewards of the resources that the Lord has trusted us with and have the funds go to good causes.” She sees that the funds she and Jerry donate will eventually help change lives. She also says that being a part of the Fox Society allows her to be surrounded by like-minded people who also want to do good and help others; she leaves every legacy event feeling uplifted, motivated, and inspired to be a better person and hopes that “she will always feel comfortable with a group of people who want to do so much good with the resources they have been given.”

Both Jerry and Virva want to emphasize how simple it is to join the Fox Society. Since there is no minimum donation amount, they encourage others to donate and join the society.