Bhide said IPRD is both grateful for the partnership with the Vineyards and honored by the trust they have placed in the FSU College of Medicine and its mission.
“ Philanthropy of this kind does not simply support programs,” Bhide said.“ It creates possibilities that would otherwise not exist for children and families who are counting on medical science to deliver answers and hope.”
The Vineyards have a firsthand understanding of the IPRD’ s potential impact.
“ I was thinking to myself,‘ I’ ve got a daughter who we think has Crohn’ s disease. My son has been diagnosed with Asperger’ s [ now classified as Autism Spectrum Disorder ],” Bruce Jr. said.“ So, when [ Philip ] mentioned [ endowments ], I was like,‘ Knowing that there are other kids and parents out there that don’ t really know what they have. There are so many unknowns with the body and how cells work. Being able to recognize things that maybe are currently unrecognizable and being able to help researchers find those answers is extremely important.’”
His sister Lynn recently learned that the young child of a friend in Georgia has a form of cancer. They are seeking treatment for the child in Rochester, New York, because it has the highest rate of healing for the specific form“ because they do different methods” than other hospitals around the country.
“ The more we can find out, the quicker we can diagnose it, the sooner you can try to come up with ways to heal the child so that they can have a longer life,” Lynn said.“ Contributing to something that is groundbreaking, that is going to potentially affect so many people, is a wonderful thing.”
Philip said he and his siblings made a conscious effort decades ago to place their philanthropic focus on developing people in education and research. And they want to share the importance of developing that giving mindset to the current and future generations of Florida State students.
“ Our pool of donors is shallow compared to other schools, and the tradition and heritage— let’ s call it a habit— to have students understand that when they’ re in their professions later on, or when they’ re enjoying success, is to remember the school for all the things that you had received from it,” he said.“ Just the fact that the future is coming through that research; it’ s coming through the schools doing that kind of work.”
He said the goal is to develop a tradition of giving with students as early as their freshmen year so that FSU“ is one of the first things they think about for donations. And it doesn’ t have to be money.”
College of Medicine Dean Dr. Alma Littles said there’ s a special satisfaction that comes with seeing alumni donating to their own alma mater. She described The Vineyard Family Foundation gift as the kind of“ exciting surprise that you like to see” because it reflects positively on the college’ s heightened profile.
“ People are recognizing what we’ re doing and seeing that it has value that they can then add to,” Littles said.“ The Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases has been one of those things that has really resonated with individuals, because children pull at our heartstrings. The opportunity to contribute to research that will help manage and treat these illnesses is something that, I’ m sure, is personally rewarding to them. And for us, it’ s rewarding to know and hear from those people who really have that interest in providing support.”
If you’ re interested in learning more about the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases or supporting this work, contact Carlee Thomas, assistant dean of development, carlee. thomas @ med. fsu. edu
62 FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY | COLLEGE OF MEDICINE