For Louise Fazio, clinical nurse manager in Rush Copley’s neonatal intensive care unit, giving comes from a place of gratitude. Louise has encouraged her team to get involved in and support Rush Copley’s annual Employee Giving Campaign for the last seven years.
At the core of the giving campaign is the opportunity for employees to make a difference by donating to one of 17 programs and three local community partner organizations that provide services for patients, the community and staff. Many of the programs are funded exclusively through philanthropy.
“My giving comes from a place of gratitude,” Louise says. “Originally, it was gratitude for being a healthy person. And having a sensitive spot for those who aren’t.”
To inspire her team to donate to the campaign, Louise has invited people who benefited from these funds to come to her unit and speak to her colleagues. “They are ordinary people, people like me,” she says. But their lives have been significantly affected by illness.
Louise views the campaign as a way to help people whose lives have been disrupted by medical conditions. She has seen how illness can disrupt a person’s sense of purpose and financial security.
“By donating to provide these services, we’re giving them something back,” she says.
Grateful for world-class care and resources
Three years ago, Louise was diagnosed with cancer, an experience that has made her even more thankful for the high-quality care she has access to. Even after her diagnosis, she says, “I still have so much to be grateful for. What I’m grateful for has shifted.”
Louise now benefits from the programs and services she has supported for years. She is grateful for world-class cancer services in her own backyard and to receive treatment at the hospital where she works. Arriving early for her treatments, she often sees other patients waiting for Ubers to take them home — something made possible by donations to the cancer center — and she is thankful to have a car and to have family members and co-workers who offer to drive or accompany her to appointments.
Louise appreciates the services and programs offered by Waterford Place Cancer Resource Center. Made possible thanks to philanthropic support, Waterford Place offers Louise and other people affected by cancer a respite from the stresses of life and illness. “I experience pure relaxation there,” she says. “It’s a wonderful thing.”
Louise says her cancer diagnosis opened the door for more conversation with her colleagues about the campaign.
“It hit closer to home,” she says. “They saw what Waterford Place did for me personally, and it added to the value they place on giving to the campaign.”
Louise believes her co-workers have the same compassion she has for those who are dealing with illness.
Bringing a sense of joy to patients and employees
One of the funds employees can contribute to is the NICU/Women’s Health fund, which supports the NICU’s reading program. Louise and her colleagues advocate reading to babies as it promotes brain development and provides an opportunity for parents to bond with their premature infants.
Every year, NICU team members participate in a read-a-thon, buy books to read to babies on their unit, gift books to parents, and put books in Christmas stockings for NICU patients and their siblings. This is made possible by donations to the giving campaign.
In addition to being an ambassador for the campaign and encouraging her team members to donate, Louise makes wreaths each year for the Festival of Giving Wreaths, which is part of the campaign. Employee-decorated wreaths fill the windows of the hospital’s lobby. Over the past seven years, she has decorated 48 wreaths.
“I’m absolutely not a creative person,” she says, “but I enjoy doing them. It’s a fun way to raise money. There’s a sense of joy for me and for the people who take them home.”
Louise created eight wreaths this year but has a goal to decorate 12 wreaths in one year.
“I have so many ideas in my head and so many materials to work with,” she says. “Maybe next year!”
