Employees October 01, 2008
Employees Get into the Game in a Big Way
“I feel so blessed in my life, I feel that I need to give back, especially to YNHH, which has been so good to me. I donate every year, and whenever I get a raise, I increase the amount I give,” says Marcie Scalia, manager of YNHH diagnostic radiology.
Scalia has a lot of company; many employees have been joining the employee fundraising campaign for the Smilow Cancer Hospital in a big way.
“This campaign provides employees who want to make a donation that opportunity. It’s not an obligation. Employees have already participated in very important ways, such as in the planning and design of Smilow, as well as in the wonderful care they give to our patients each and every day. Giving to the campaign is just one more way to be involved,” says Marna P. Borgstrom, president and CEO of YNHH.
Many employees, however, feel that working at YNHH is not just a job, but a calling. They have participated accordingly—with many choosing to give over time through automatic payroll deductions. Kevin Walsh, vice president, development, reports that employees have been giving steadily since the campaign kickoff in July: “Employees have already pledged more than $200,000 to the campaign with an additional $930,000 pledged by senior management, bringing us well over the million dollar mark.”
Jeffrey Malcolm, programmer analyst in information and technology systems, knows firsthand how important the work at YNHH is. When he was 22, he was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation in the brain, which means he had abnormal blood vessels that could hemorrhage. The malformation was also causing him to experience seizures. He was sent to Yale-New Haven, but at the time doctors didn’t have the technology to operate without risk of paralysis and blindness. Malcolm struggled on for more than 20 years, always under the threat of hemorrhage, until his YNHH doctors felt that the research and technology had progressed enough to perform an operation safely. “I went in on a Monday, came out on a Friday. I am seizure free and have no lingering effects,” Malcolm says proudly. “I am donating because YNHH changed my life.”
Diana Russo, senior information access analyst, performance management IT, is donating in honor of her mother-in-law who passed away from breast cancer. “Back then, her choices were very limited as to where she could go in the greater New Haven area. Smilow Cancer Hospital is opening up a whole new world of choices for individuals to seek treatment.”
Scalia adds. “We all have known someone who has been touched by cancer. If you haven’t, you’re lucky. Donating is a chance to really make a difference in someone’s life.”
Article originally appeared in the fall 2008 issue of Impact Magazine (page 10)
http://www.ynhh.org/develop/ImpactFall08.pdf
