MUSC Foundation thanks community for record Giving Tuesday support

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Dec. 5, 2020) – The Medical University of South Carolina Foundation received $547,689 in gifts for MUSC on Giving Tuesday, setting a record. The previous record was set in May, when $110,720 was raised for COVID-19 testing at MUSC.

Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a global giving movement that started in 2012. 

The day’s strong pace was driven in part by a series of matching gifts provided throughout the day by donors and MUSC’s own staff and leadership, including MUSC President David Cole and his wife, Kathy. 

“Kathy and I believe strongly in MUSC’s mission and the work happening here,” said Cole. “We were honored to contribute matching funds for Giving Tuesday. The generosity of this community is just awesome and we are very grateful for the support.”

Meanwhile, more than a dozen people, including many former patients, fundraised for MUSC on Facebook and in their communities. Ten-year-old Lana Evans donated $600 to the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. She earned the money from painting and selling oyster shells at a local coffee shop.

The largest single contribution was a $307,710 gift to support the MUSC Health Heart and Vascular Center, provided by Hank and Laurel Greer.

Funds raised on Giving Tuesday will support MUSC hospitals, colleges and programs, which have all been financially affected by the pandemic. The pandemic has also forced MUSC to cancel fundraising events that support research and student scholarships. To date, MUSC has lost at least $500,000 in event revenue. 

“This has been such a tough year for everyone,” said Kate Azizi, vice president for institutional advancement at MUSC. “For the community to show this kind of support for our mission, especially at this time, is inspiring and profoundly meaningful on so many different levels. We are incredibly grateful.”

Virtual interviews available

Kate Azizi, vice president for institutional advancement, is available for live or recorded virtual interviews. Please contact Melissa Varner, public information director for the Department of Development and Alumni Affairs, at 843-214-4934 to set up an interview.

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About the MUSC Foundation

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Foundation was chartered in 1966 as a charitable educational foundation to support the education, research, patient care and other programs at the Medical University. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, contributions to which are tax-deductible.

Since its beginning, the MUSC Foundation has encouraged such worthwhile academic enterprises as endowed professorships; scholarships; the acquisition and development of campus facilities to serve student, teaching, research or clinical needs; and awards in honor of academic excellence. In addition, it has encouraged achievements in biomedical research.

 

The Foundation is governed by a 31-member board of directors. The president of the Medical University is an ex officio, nonvoting member of the board. Three members of the MUSC Board of Trustees also serve on the board. The remaining 27 at-large directors are not directly affiliated with the university. Five are alumni of MUSC. The foundation’s funds are invested and managed by professional money managers selected by the foundation’s Investment Committee. This committee uses a professional investment advisor to assist in evaluating its managers.

About the Medical University of South Carolina

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South as well as the state’s only integrated academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state’s leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2019, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $284 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians’ practice plan and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2020, for the sixth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care.