Child's Care Motivates Family's Generosity

Robert and Cathy Wilson's first experience at Le Bonheur was in 2005, when their infant daughter, Ann, received surgery to repair a soft cleft palate.

Two years later, the Wilsons returned to Le Bonheur. This time, with their second daughter, Mary Quay. When Cathy was 20 weeks pregnant with Mary Quay, they learned she had spina bifida a neural tube defect that left a hole in the middle of her back, exposing her spinal cord. She was transferred to Le Bonheur within hours of her birth and underwent surgery to repair that hole when she was less than 48 hours old. The Wilsons spent the next two and a half weeks at Le Bonheur for her recovery.

It was during that experience that the Wilsons grew to love Le Bonheur.

"We really got a strong dose of what patient- and family‐centered care is all about," said Robert. "Once we were at Le Bonheur, we could stay with our daughter in her room, instead of just 'visiting,' and the clinicians were very good about explaining to us what was happening, what we could expect and helping guide us through the decisions that had to be made in our daughter's care. Child Life also took time to help Ann understand what was going on with her sister."

After that, Robert and Cathy began volunteering regularly at Le Bonheur and signed up to serve on the hospital's Family Partners Council, an advisory group that works with hospital leaders. They also decided to support the hospital's work through financial contributions.

The Wilsons set up a donor advised fund with a local community foundation, which allowed them to make donations directly to that fund and then recommend gifts to charities they love and support. They appreciate the convenience of receiving one tax receipt for donations made to their donor advised fund and the ease of supporting multiple organization through it.

They also made sure to include Le Bonheur and other charities they support in their estate plan and were able to do that through their donor advised fund.

"We wanted to make sure our children understand that giving is important to us. One part of that discussion was letting them know we had plans that included giving if we were to pass away," said Cathy. "Like many others, we have contributed to retirement plans throughout our careers. We learned that giving a portion of our retirement plan to charity at the time of our death would have some tax advantages."

The process was simple, says Cathy.

"We each updated the beneficiary for our retirement account to designate our donor advised fund as the contingent beneficiary."

Today, Cathy, an attorney, works with Le Bonheur's Institutional Advancements team, helping others make planned gifts to the hospital.

The benefits of a donor advised fund and donating retirement assets as part of an estate plan may differ depending on your personal circumstances. Please consult with your legal, tax or financial advisor.

Want to learn more about how you can support Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital with your planned gift? Contact Cathy Wilson, J.D., CFRE, CAP® at 901-287-5575 or catherine.wilson@lebonheur.org.