Chapter 19: A Way for More to Help
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Cézanne (Zizi) Fritz, granddaughter of W. Strong, became executive director in 2004. By 2007, Foundation volunteers had grown the endowment to more than $75 million. Fritz’s goal is to grow the Foundation with an emphasis on making a personal connection with each donor.
“Use It as You See Fit” Decisions to contribute to the Foundation are very personal. Mary Helen Allburt had been working for several years when, out of the blue, her mother suggested that it was time she started thinking about fulfilling her father’s pledge to the San. “Somewhere along the line,” recalls Mary Helen, “there had been a building program and my father made a pledge. Well, along came the Depression, and then he died a couple of years later, so he was never able to follow through. So I started sending small checks to Mrs. Van asking her to use them wherever she saw fit. And she’d send me letters telling me how she had spent my check. I remember one time she paid for a family to spend the night in a motel. After she died, I sent those checks to a chaplain. Then, he departed, and quite frankly, I forgot about it. And, out of the clear blue sky, I got a telephone call one day from a Foundation staff member and started giving again.” Mary Helen has been giving to Presbyterian for decades. Her checks are designated to help children. “I have had a pretty long and wonderful life as a result of the San,” shares Mary Helen, “and have a deep gratitude that can never really be paid, so anything I can do in a small way to help is very important to me.”
Above: Michael Freccia, 2008 Foundation board chair; Zizi Fritz, Foundation executive director, and Julia Bowdich, 2007 Foundation board chair Presbyterian Healthcare Services Photoarchive
2007
Below: Mary Helen Allburt has
long supported the Presbyterian Foundation in appreciation for the care she received at the San as a patient in the 1930s. She is pictured here on the left at the opening of Rachel’s Courtyard. Presbyterian Healthcare Services Photoarchive
2005
“Making an Impact” Julie Bowdich and her parents, Jack and Donna Rust, embody community connections with Presbyterian. In 2003, the longtime Presbyterian board chair and his
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