Wise Use of Retirement Savings Benefits Cancer Patients

McLEOD FOUNDATION 26 JANUARY 2017

Robin Aiken and her mother, Faye Hutchinson, are dedicated to helping meet the needs of cancer patients at McLeod Health through the HOPE Fund.

The Hutchinson family has turned sorrow into hope through generous support and dedicated volunteer efforts to improve the journey for cancer patients at McLeod Health.

The concept for the HOPE (Helping Oncology Patients Everyday) Fund was born as Robin Aiken was made aware of the complexity involved with providing immediate funding to help patients undergoing cancer treatment. Robin and her family were very moved by a patient services program at the North Carolina hospital that had cared for her sister Wana Kaye.

Taking this as her inspiration, Robin has dedicated her efforts through the McLeod Health Foundation to establish the HOPE Fund, providing immediate funding for patient support needs.

Robin and the HOPE Fund Advisory Committee, working with the staff from the McLeod Center for Cancer Treatment and Research, had a vision for a broad-based program.

“The only thing holding us back was funding,” shares Robin.

To jump start the HOPE Fund, Robin’s mother chose to gift a portion of her IRA to the McLeod Health Foundation in memory of Wana Kaye in order to help cancer patients in her community.

According to Robin, “There is a strong sense that when you are doing something so right, good things fall into place.”

This was evidenced as Congress permanently approved provisions to allow charitable gifts from retirement accounts, commonly known as an IRA Rollover.

Robin’s mother made two sizeable gifts that have allowed the HOPE Fund to get up and running with services to patients very quickly.

IRA Rollover gifts have been permanently extended so that you can now reliably plan for this tax-wise gift option. Donors who are 70 ½ years old and older may gift up to $100,000 in a single tax year which may fulfill all or part of their required minimum distribution. If you would like additional information about IRA Rollover gifts, visit our website at www.mcleodhealthlegacy.org or contact Roxanna Tinsley in the McLeod Health Foundation Office at (843) 777-2694.

The HOPE (Helping Oncology Patients Everyday) Fund provides donors with the opportunity to make gifts that directly impact services for patients undergoing cancer treatment. Donors have helped with transportation, medications, nutrition, educational resources and an “immediate needs fund” available to staff to help patients with barriers to their care and well-being.