Because of You - Why I Give

It is a privilege to work at such a remarkable organization. I live very close to St. Marys and every time I would hear the helicopters in flight, I would tell my daughters, “Say a prayer for the patient and the crew, they are in the best hands possible.” I never dreamed my brother would be the one in need of such capable hands, but 3 years ago he had a rollover accident with a riding lawn mower in a heavily wooded rural area. He sustained injuries that were bad enough that, due to his years of experience as a deputy, he was able to direct the rescue operation, requesting Mayo One to be in flight and meet the ambulance crew at the baseball field in the closest town. After landing and being rushed into emergency surgery, I remember thinking, “I have every faith that he will be okay” even without knowing the extent of his injuries, but what a terrible reason for my family to truly realize what an exceptional facility we have, that has the capability of performing medical miracles on so many patients, at any time. I will never forget how proud I was to hear the comments of my family, some of whom work in nursing, about the quality of care our medical staff provides. I saw firsthand the magic that was being worked, whether it was the Child Life Specialist talking to my nieces to help them with their fears, to the capable hands of the team of doctors who performed many surgeries, the lengthiest of which was 11 hours long, to connect the thousands of blood vessels that began restoring function and making my brother whole again. During each surgery, I was made aware, all over again, of what a tremendous place we get to work, and I wanted to do whatever I could to be a part of the healing process. The Because of You campaign is a way to continue the development of the good that Mayo Clinic does. It is within the reach of every Mayo Clinic employee. It’s not the size of the gift, but our commitment to give that counts. I hope that every employee will consider becoming one of the 4000 needed to achieve the $50,000 matching gift in this year’s Because of You challenge.