Gladys Menig planned for her future, and the future of her hospital

“My late husband Howard and I had always planned to leave something to Gifford in the form of a bequest, which would have provided for the medical center following our deaths. However, our lives changed when Howard began having health problems. I knew from our family doctor, Ken Borie, that his condition would not improve, and I needed to make some different financial arrangements for his care. That was when we set up our first gift annuity with Gifford using some well-appreciated stock that was only paying us a small dividend. With our first gift annuity we received a 10-percent return along with a substantial tax deduction. It was a win-win situation for both Gifford and us.

Our second gift annuity was to further improve our personal liquidity. Should I need the same comprehensive care as Howard needed, I know I will be well taken care of as well. It is such a relief to know that my finances are in order thanks to these two charitable gift annuities. Taking advantage of Gifford’s gift annuity program enabled Howard and I to be major contributors to the medical center, and, at the same time, it helped us plan for our long-term needs.”

~ Gladys Menig

The Donnets: Helping keep their hospital healthy, as it has them

Pierre and Carolyn Donnet of Rochester have been supporting Gifford since at least 1979 – the year Pierre first joined the Gifford Board of Trustees.

"I think I hold a record among the trustees for the longest term served," he says.

He served on the board from 1979-1990 and then 1993-2002 and, with Carolyn, has remained a Gifford corporator.

That insider's perspective and decades spent as patients of the Rochester Health Center, Gifford and the area's tertiary care centers are among the reasons the Donnets continue to support Gifford, they say.

"The more I learned about it from being on the board, the more you learn where you can be some help," Pierre says, noting helping to provide "service and care to those who cannot afford it" is among what drives the couple to give.

And they know they're supporting high quality care.

"The doctors and the nurses to me have always been top-notch," he says, also crediting housekeeping and food services departments for enhancing Gifford.

The Donnets should know. In their 80s and 90s respectively, Carolyn and Pierre both have survived cancer (breast, colon and prostate) and Pierre's had additional surgeries, including colon surgery and having three pacemakers put in over the years.

Some of the care has happened at Gifford. Other care has happened at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Fletcher Allen Health Care. Pierre credits Gifford's administrators and board with forming relationships with those tertiary care centers that have allowed the couple seamless care, and with creating a medical center that is financial stable.

"I think we're in good shape for the future," Pierre says of the Gifford of today.

And so are the Donnets. "That's what good doctors and good hospitals will do for you," says Carolyn.

Jeff Steinkamp: Giving to, arguably, 'the best run hospital in the state'

When Jeff Steinkamp retired to Rochester in 1992, he quickly got involved in his community, singing in his local church and with the White River Valley Players and supporting his local hospital, Gifford Medical Center. He's made an annual contribution to Gifford since he first moved to Vermont full-time and has also invested in Gifford through a charitable gift annuity, which earns him a return on his investment. "I felt it was a very good investment," says Jeff, who previously worked in the real estate industry and lived in New York's Westchester County.

He first built what was to be his retirement home in Rochester in 1976, but had been skiing in Vermont even before that.

When he made Rochester (the "nicest place I've ever lived") his full-time home, he asked around to find out who might make a good doctor for him. Internal medicine physician Dr. Milt Fowler's name was the one that surfaced. Dr. Fowler was Jeff's first introduction to Gifford, but soon he would become a key part of the medical center's oversight.

From 2002-2008, Jeff served on Gifford's Board of Trustees and continues today on the Development Committee.

The volunteer work gave Jeff, now 79, an insider's look at his hospital, and what he saw impressed him.

"It's not only a very friendly place; I get the very definite feeling that it's probably the best run hospital in the state," says Jeff, who was impressed with the board, the administration and with how involved trustees and staff are in their communities.

For Jeff, Gifford proved – and continues to prove nearly 20 years of giving later – to be a sound community investment.

Vermont's combat vets: Doing their share, and more

Each year, Gifford holds an August charity motorcycle ride, called the Last Mile Ride, in support of the Garden Room and advanced illness care at Gifford. Following one such annual ride palliative care provider Dr. Jonna Goulding made an astute comment about a particular group of ride volunteers – the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association.

"Here they've given so much (to their country), and, yet, here they are giving even more to a special cause at Gifford," said Dr. Goulding, who serves on the hospital's Advanced Illness Care Team and both volunteers and participates in the annual charity ride.

The Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association is a national, nonprofit organization. Vermont members are comprised of combat veterans from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces who ride motorcycles as a hobby, support fellow veterans and veterans causes, and participate in charity rides around the state each year.

The Last Mile Ride is one. A group of combat vets each year serves as the ride's "road guards" – a crucial role that involves helping riders pass safely through intersections as a group. Former Vermont Chapter Commander Charlie Amico has also been instrumental each year in planning the ride and recruiting road guard help from his fellow riders.

"It's for Gifford, and I wanted to do something for the community," said Charlie of why he spends countless hours each year planning the ride and gets the combat veterans to help.

And help they have.

Besides serving as road guards, many also raise money.

Williamstown resident and Lucky's Trailer Sales employee Reg Mongeur is among them. Each year he collects hundreds of dollars by asking friends and customers for support for the ride's cause – Gifford patients in the last mile of life.

Now in his 60s, Reg has been riding since he was a teen, but it is more than the joy of riding that drew Reg to the Last Mile Ride. As a local resident, he has had friends and family members pass away in the Garden Room, Gifford's special suite for dying patients and their families.

"The staff there at Gifford … we can't comment enough about them. (They are) the angels of the earth," he said.

And there's another major reason Reg rides to support Gifford and other charities. He served in Vietnam from 1968-1969 with the 4th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army after being drafted. He returned to a scornful nation. "We lost a lot of self-esteem when we came back from Vietnam," he says.

But through his volunteerism with the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, he's both regained that self-esteem and accomplished his goal of bettering the image of Vietnam veterans. Today, 40 years after his service, he says he gets handshakes and "thank yous" from fellow Americans rather than sneers. It's work he and other combat vets will continue to build upon. Reg says he'll be participating in the Last Mile with his trike (three-wheeled motorcycle) and wife Rose in tow for as long as he can ride. "We've done our share," he says of his comrades, "and we're going to do more."

Big and small gifts matter – just ask the Gifford Auxiliary

For more than 100 years, the Gifford Medical Center Auxiliary has supported Gifford. Since 1956, that support has come through Thrift Shop proceeds that come in a dime or a dollar at a time and have added up to major investment over the decades.

The Auxiliary supports building projects at Gifford; scholarships for area nursing students; gives books, mittens and much more to children; and twice annually funds "Wish List" items from various hospital departments that have a major impact on patient care.

One such example is a digital camera and printer for the Emergency Department to photograph sexual assault, domestic abuse and neglect victims as well as sweat suits for victims to wear home (should their clothes be collected for evidence).

It wasn't a huge gift – certainly not the Auxiliary's largest – but for the Emergency Department and its patients, the new camera equipment can mean the difference between a conviction and a sexual predator going free. Gifford has two specially trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in the Emergency Department. The SANE program is known nationwide and thought to better support victims and increase conviction rates because of improved training and evidence collection.

Gifford's SANE nurses, however, were using an old Polaroid camera to photograph injuries. Its images were low quality, they faded over time and film wasn't even made for the camera anymore.

"It could make the difference in a conviction, if you had quality pictures on quality paper," Emergency Department nurse manager Maureen Heyder said of the Auxiliary's gift. "It is a huge help to us."

The Auxiliary announced this gift and many others in award letters. During this particular round of "Wish List" giving in the spring of 2009, Auxiliary President Mickie Richardson of Randolph helped hand out the award letters. "I can't tell you the feeling I get handing that envelope to somebody. I get teary," said Mickie, growing misty at the memory. "Just the joy that it spreads; it's so magnificent."

Pediatric rehabilitation equipment, held by Auxiliary members in the photograph, is another purchase made by the Auxiliary.