Community steps up to fund cancer center

BOULDER – It’s a sad fact of life that nearly everyone has been affected by cancer, either directly or through a friend or loved one.

That made raising money for the Tebo Family Medical Pavilion “never a difficult sell,´ said Jon Kottke, a Boulder attorney who served as co-chairman of the cancer center’s fundraising committee. “We went out to the community, and the community just responded.”

The community, individuals and corporations have given more than 3,000 gifts worth “between $2 and $2 million,” totaling $7.4 million, said Ron Secrest, president of the Boulder Community Hospital Foundation.

The largest donation came from local developer Stephen Tebo and his wife, Shari. Their $2 million gave them naming rights to the facility.

The rest of the major gifts have broken down this way, according to Secrest: one for $1 million, two for $500,000, one for $200,000, nine at $100,000, 17 at $50,000, 17 at $25,000, 29 at $10,000 and 85 at $5,000.

Although about 80 to 90 percent of the major gifts came from individuals, a number of Boulder Valley corporations also made large – greater than $5,000 -contributions, including The Academy, Boulder Associates, Boulder Radiologists, Caplan and Earnest, Cerretani Aviation, Coburn Development, Colorado Business Bank, The Colorado Group, Coupe Studios, Crocs, Countryside Asset Management, Daily Camera, First Bank, First National Bank of Colorado, Gibbons-White, Guaranty Bank & Trust, Heritage Bank, Humana, Inovonics, JPMorgan Chase, McManus Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Sargent Bickham Lagudis, Sterling-Rice Group, US Bank, Walters & Hogsett, Weekends, Wells Fargo, Wyatt Construction and Western Disposal.

If they wanted their names used, donors could select from several naming categories including adopting a room, providing a piece of art or participating in one of the endowed funds designed to help patients without insurance.

The foundation set an initial goal of $6 million to help defray Boulder Community Hospital’s $11 million investment in the $17 million center. The rest is being provided by Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, which will staff and operate the hospital-owned facility.

Once the foundation reached its $6 million goal it established endowments.

“When it became clear we would exceed our goal for the bricks and mortar we decided to create several funds to benefit those less fortunate, and we would endow these funds if (donors) materialized with significant dollars,” Secrest said.

The endowments include:

– Integrative care fund, $605,000. Pays for treatments insurance typically doesn’t cover like acupuncture and massage.

– Cancer patient and family support fund, $206,000. Help underinsured or uninsured patients and their families meet housing, transportation or other needs.

– Cancer research fund, $67,000.

– Chemotherapy fund, $35,000. Helps patients with limited or no health insurance pursue chemotherapy treatment. Friends of Tebo, whose daughter Bonnie Felix has cancer, made a gift of $10,000 toward this fund.

– Breast cancer treatment fund, $150,000. This guarantees that women without medical insurance can receive additional tests and screenings after a positive mammogram.

– Art fund, $100,000. Showcases local artists’ work throughout the facility.

The art fund was entirely endowed by the Russ Dalbey family, Secrest said. “We talked to them about the cancer center, and they said, ‘Can’t we work out an endowment for art?’ In a medical facility that’s amazing.”

Boulder artists George Peters and Melanie Walker gave the center a large metal mobile that hangs in a stairwell on the northwest side of the building, at a reduced price. “(Peters) had someone close to him pass away with melanoma, so he wanted to do this,” Secrest said.

He added that three Boulder women – Linda Karagas, Jan Perkins and Patty Young – stepped up to pay for the artwork.

These women also contributed the sculpture of a bronze angel called “Millenia” in the lobby of Boulder Community’s Foothills Hospital. “They are wonderful people who like to help pay for the art,” he said.

Longtime hospital foundation member Jennie Caruthers and her husband Marvin Caruthers, a biotechnology entrepreneur and recent National Medal of Science recipient, became donors prior to her death from cancer last year.

“She was so excited about the state-of-the-art cancer center, she made a point of visiting and said they wanted to make a significant gift,” Secrest said.

The center’s Diagnostic, Imaging and Radiation Oncology Center is called “Jeni’s Place” in her honor, after Marvin’s pet name for her. A portrait of her hangs in the center along with a plaque stating, “To live life to the fullest every day is a special gift.”

Many pieces of art throughout the center, including an alabaster sculpture by Brian Grossman and a large painting called “Thirteen Feet” by Annie Ward, were donated in her memory “because she was such a patroness of the arts,” Secrest said.

More art in her honor is on the way, too, when Caruthers makes a gift of three sculptures now in one of their homes. “She would be very honored to have these on display,” Secrest said.

Contact Caron Schwartz Ellis at 303-440-4950 or csellis@bcbr.com.

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