Gift in estate plans creates legacy and honors Dana-Farber community

When Allan Osborne was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2008, he and his wife, Debbie, thought they would be on their own through this frightening experience. That all changed when they walked through the doors of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“To us, Dana-Farber is such a welcoming place that we felt safe,” Allan said. “We realized we were not alone and we would make it through.”

Allan underwent treatment, including a stem cell transplant, and is now cancer-free. In gratitude, Allan and Debbie became involved in fundraising for Dana-Farber through Jimmy Fund events and started volunteering at the Institute. They decided to further their legacy of support by making a gift to Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund in their will.

“This gift is important to us because we recognized the treatment I received was made possible because of the generosity and planned gifts of others. We want to make sure that continues,” Allan said. “We hope that other lives will be saved in the future because of our support.”

Allan and Debbie’s gift will help advance future groundbreaking research and comprehensive patient care at Dana-Farber. With their planned gift, they also became members of the Dana-Farber Society (DFS), a special community of people who have invested in a cancer-free future through a provision in their estate plans to Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund.

“This gift through our will gives us a great feeling knowing that we are doing something to help,” Allan said. “We’ve made good friends through the Society and we look forward to staying connected to this wonderful community through DFS events.”

“It’s hard for us to describe the gratitude we feel toward Dana-Farber,” Debbie added. “It’s a wonderful place with extraordinary people and we can’t do enough to give back.”

Making a gift to Dana-Farber that will change lives is as simple as placing the following language in your will: “I bequeath (a specific amount, a portion of your total or residual estate) to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc., 450 Brookline Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.”

Please contact Erin McKenna, Assistant Vice President, Gift Planning, at 617-582-9674 or Erin_McKenna@dfci.harvard.edu, for more information on honoring a family member or Dana-Farber caregiver through an estate gift to Dana-Farber.

This story appears in the latest issue of Planning Matters, our planned giving newsletter.