Martin family
On her wedding day in November 2023, Kylie Martin stole a peek of her soon-to-be husband, James, behind the sanctuary closed doors that opened to the aisle.
The wedding and reception that followed included many of the traditional rituals — exchange of gold rings; loving first kiss; joyful first dance; and a towering white cake.
But what the day didn’t include was a stack of paper-wrapped presents and giftbags.
Feeling like they’d already dedicated enough funds to a wedding, Kylie and James opted out of a registry, establishing instead the Kylie and James Martin Endowment Fund at Children’s HealthSM for guests to celebrate their special occasion by supporting their local pediatric hospital in lieu of wedding gifts.
“Walking around the hospital, you see all kinds of kids and all types of circumstances that they’re battling against. Knowing that, we felt it was best for the funds to be allocated
across many different service lines and trusted the hospital with the flexibility to decide where was best,” James said.
Unrestricted philanthropic support is the gasoline in the tank for Children’s Health, allowing the hospital system to enhance critical programs, invest in new initiatives and remain nimble to respond to unanticipated demands. As the largest pediatric health care provider in North Texas, these general use funds are crucial for us to make life better for children.
For Kylie, her family has invested decades of trust in the clinical team members at Children’s Health. Kylie had just celebrated her second birthday when her older sister, Kaitlyn, was diagnosed at age 3 with leukemia.
“I saw how my sister had these multiple experiences at hospitals and how well she was cared for, along with the rest of my family through important services such as Child Life. And because of this, I felt strongly about supporting Children’s Health,” Kylie said.
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I simply trust the hospital and the people managing the endowment to put the donations where they are needed most. And that trust comes from seeing the care that was provided to my sister. ”
KYLIE MARTIN
READ MORE ABOUT HOW KYLIE AND JAMES’ ENDOWMENT WILL HELP US CARE FOR A GROWING PEDIATRIC POPULATION IN NORTH TEXAS.
James and Kylie Martin
Watson family
Connie Watson was 14 years old when she underwent open heart surgery at Children’s Health in the late 1950s. At the time, the procedure had emerged as a novel surgical treatment to correct congenital cardiac defects.
Diagnosed as a child with pulmonary valve stenosis — a narrowing of the valve between the lower right heart chamber and the lung arteries that prevents normal blood flow — Connie’s condition had worsened by the time she became a teenager.
If she hadn’t had surgery to repair the valve, she could have died, she said. Her pediatrician encouraged her to come to Children’s Health for treatment. “Why would you go somewhere else for care? You have the best hospital here,” she remembers him saying.
Her identical twin sister, Carolyn Sasser Roeder, visited Connie in the hospital during her two-week stay. The surgery was successful, and after a few years of annual follow-up appointments, Connie never required additional surgeries.
While in high school, the sisters volunteered together at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
Now 79 years old, Connie and her husband, Allan, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year. What was then an innovative surgery, gifted Connie decades of memories.
“Connie has always remembered what they did for her,” Allan said. “So, we started asking how we could give back with what we had.”
Allan and Connie Watson and her sister, Carolyn Sasser Roeder
The couple established the Connie and Allan Watson Master Physician in Pediatric Cardiology Endowment through a gift in their will. The endowment will be used to attract, recruit and retain highly qualified physicians, bringing transformative care to patients for generations to come.
The Watsons’ bequest inspired Carolyn to establish a master physician endowment of her own, the Carolyn Sasser Master Physician in Pediatric Cardiology Endowment.
“This will be another drop in the pond with some ripples. Hopefully, there will be a lot of other people who are able to do something similar,” Allan said.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WATSON FAMILY AND HOW THEIR STORY HAS AN INSPIRING RIPPLE EFFECT TO GIVE BACK.
areas of support
Clinical Programs (7%)
Education (3%)
Named Positions (7%)
Outreach (3%)
Patient Family Support Services (9%)
Research (43%)
Uncompensated Care (4%)
Unrestricted (24%)
endowments at Children’s Health
Endowed funds equip Children’s Health for future success. Approximately 250 named endowments have been established over the years by generous friends who invested in the long-term growth of our institution to serve more kids and families.
Many of these investments fund research, which will help reveal important discoveries to transform the pediatric medicine landscape. These gifts also fund the general mission of Children’s Health and help us respond to evolving current needs.
Additional funds that benefit other areas such as clinical programs, patient family support services and education ensure that resources are available to support the many ways we make life better for children each year. These permanent investments reflect confidence in the long-lasting impact that Children’s Health will have on generations of kids and families.
Donors make all of this possible, while building lasting legacies for themselves and Children’s Health alike.
As of Dec. 31, 2023