www.suffolknewsherald.com
2014 Strides
21
[Obici’S legacy]
Love for Suffolk builds a foundation Column by George Birdsong
T
he Obici Healthcare Foundation makes me proud to live in Suffolk. It was founded in 2006 from the proceeds Amedeo Obici left at his death, plus the funds from the sale of Obici Hospital to Sentara Healthcare, which now operates the hospital as Sentara Obici Hospital. At the end of March 2013 (our last fiscal year) the Foundation’s investment portfolio totaled approximately $103 million. Since its inception in 2006, our Foundation has awarded more than $26 million in grants to fund more than 240 programs and capital projects covering a range of needs. Among them were: 4139 grants to fund access to health care — programs such as the Western Tidewater Free Clinic and Main Street Physicians 427 grants to fund chronic disease management — programs such as funding Eastern Virginia Medical School
students to help patients manage their diabetes here in Suffolk 419 grants to insure more people — programs such as funding workers to go into the schools and Birdsong help enroll children in Medicaid and FAMIS 455 grants to assist with obesity prevention — programs such as helping our schools initiate healthy school meals and our work with the Suffolk Partnership for a Healthy Community and the Healthy People Healthy Suffolk Initiative By funding these agencies, our Foundation has served more than 174,500 people. Of this number, more than 163,000 received health- and prevention-related services, 7,600 received dental services, and 3,211 received mental health services. The all-volunteer Board of Directors is made up of community leaders who dedicate their time to oversee the operations of the Foundation, along with
seven staff members who provide community service and educational training for grantees and nonprofits serving the health needs of our community. These accomplishments could not have occurred without the incredible generosity of Mr. Obici. I have an indirect personal connection with Mr. Obici. My father and mother were contemporaries and personal friends of Mr. and Mrs. Obici. My father was on the founding board at Obici Hospital. I remember clearly my dad telling me what a wonderful gift Mr. Obici made to Suffolk and its citizens. Our community was able to build the hospital in 1950 without a fundraising campaign because of Mr. Obici’s generosity. We built our Foundation office at 106 Finney Ave., next to the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, not just to be functional and efficient but as a tribute to Suffolk’s greatest philanthropist, Amedeo Obici. We display his art collection throughout our office. Our board hopes our office stands as an inspiration
to generations to come by encouraging them to help others as he did. We are also proud to house the Suffolk Foundation, which in seven short years has an endowment of $5.5 million. The legacy of Mr. Obici is not just the endowment he left us, but the example he set. He came to the United States at age 11, unable to speak English. He began working at his uncle’s fruit stand in Scranton, Pa., and within a year he moved into a store in Wilkes-Barre. As a youngster, he sold peanuts from a homemade pushcart. He was so industrious that his efforts grew into Planters Peanuts located here in our hometown. And then he left his fortune to help others. Yes I am proud to be a citizen of Suffolk. George Birdsong is president of the Obici Healthcare Foundation board of directors. Visit the Foundation at http:// www.obicihcf.org.
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