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Posted December 18, 2018 by Barbara Boyce Summa Health Foundation
As another year comes to a close and a time of giving nears, please consider a gift to Summa Health. Summa is committed to providing the highest quality, compassionate care to our patients and to contribute to a healthier community. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on philanthropic support to remain on the forefront of healthcare excellence and innovation, educate the next generation of caregivers and care for all in need.
Below are a few stories about the impact of philanthropy, and how you can help.
Emergency care
The day Shannon needed life-saving medical care, she was a healthy, 40-year-old wife and mother. She then suffered an unexpected heart attack from a completely blocked artery. She was also suffering from massive internal bleeding. She was placed in the hands of Peter Bittenbender, M.D., and the staff at Summa Health.
“Summa Health provided me coordinated care, delivered by a multidisciplinary team of experts, and I survived a one percent chance of recovery. Three different medical teams helped me to recover from two conditions that are treated in the completely opposite way. It was through their incredibly compassionate care that I am here today. Between the day of my heart attack and through my rehab, countless Summa Health physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals worked together to restore my health and give my family and me hope in our greatest time of need.”
When you make a gift to Summa Health, you are also investing in the health of our community. Gifts that provide funding for research, education and technological advancements, keeping Summa Health at the forefront of medicine. More on Shannon’s story and recovery here.
Gifting a legacy
When Kachig “Joe” Miktarian came from Armenia to the United States at the age of 17, he was a driven young man who knew in America, with hard work, you could achieve anything. He established himself in Akron and sent for his sweetheart and future wife in Armenia, Dicranuhi.
Joe founded his first store in 1920, a confectionary store on East Market Street near Adolph Street. In 1933, he opened Joe’s All Star Café in the same general vicinity. When the Route 8 expressway was being constructed, the café relocated to its final location on East Market Street between Arch and Adams streets near the Summa Health – Akron Campus.
In 2000, when the Miktarians sold Joe’s All Star Café to Summa Health, their legacy of giving continued with a generous estate gift to support the mission of the health system to provide the highest quality, compassionate care to Akron area patients and their families.
“My grandfather loved Akron, and Akron was good to him. I think he would be proud today to know that our family’s gift to Summa Health in his memory is helping so many,” said his granddaughter Patty Miktarian Spencer. You can learn more about the Miktarian’s incredible gift here.
Personal touches to care
When the owners of Pleasant Valley Corporation, Barbara and Gino Faciana, learned about a volunteer-staffed program called the Comfort Cart, they knew that they and their generous staff could make a meaningful impact in the lives of Summa Health patients. The Comfort Cart provides patients and visitors at Summa Health with free personal care and other travel-size items.
How to give:
There are a variety of ways to make a gift and every single donation makes a difference:
Once you make your decision to include Summa Health in your future gift plans, Summa Health Foundation will provide you with a simple one-page form to complete confirming your gift commitment and welcome you as a member of the Charles Deering Legacy Society, unless you request anonymity.
If you would like more information or if you have already included Summa in your will or future plans, please contact Barbara Boyce, Senior Director of Gift Planning at 330.375.6356 or boyceb@summahealth.org to request a confidential Legacy Gift Form. You may also request a free Wills Planner to help you in your planning.