2011 Donor Impact Report - Charity Focus

Hope for othersTwenty years ago, Paul andMary Amirault sat in theNICU with their beautifulbaby girl as she sufferedthrough treatment, operations,monitoring and care necessaryto keep her alive. Jenniferwas born prematurely withsignificantly underdevelopedlungs after amniotic fluid lossduring pregnancy.“Jennifer had manypneumothorax tubes, usedfor collapsed lungs, to helpher breathe. After a numberof stressful procedures,and excellent care from thedoctors and nurses at FoothillsNICU, they recommendedJennifer go on a high-speedventilator,” describes Paul.“At the time, the only oneavailable was in Edmonton.”With the help of STARS,Ronald McDonald House andthe Royal Alexander Hospital,Jennifer lived for another10 days. “We’ll never knowif having such a device inCalgary would have made adifference for our Jennifer, butever since, we’ve wanted tohelp increase the potential forother families in the NICU tohave happy outcomes.”A few years ago, the couplewere doing estate planning.“It was important to us tohave a philanthropic element,while maintaining a secureretirement and leaving alegacy for our two boys. Ourfinancial advisor suggested alife insurance policy,” explainedPaul. “When our advisor askedif there was any special areawe wanted our money to goto, we thought of Jennifer.”The couple set up a policywith Calgary Health Trust asthe beneficiary and specialinstructions that the money bedirected to the Foothills NICU.“The premiums we pay are thesame as we were donatingpreviously (with the same taxbenefits), but the outcome willbe significantly greater. It isa very efficient way for us tomake a meaningful donation.”“We were lucky, because wehad Jennifer with us for 30days,” smiled Mary. “Withoutthe donations that others hadmade to the NICUs, we mightnot have.”The story has a happyending as one year laterPaul and Mary welcomedtheir second son.Paul and Mary remember Jennifer by giving hope to othersthrough a gift of life insurance, hoping their donation will givemany families happy outcomes in the future.A gift for MomSanta and his elves fromthe Kinettes Club of Calgarymade a stop at the NeonatalIntensive Care Unit (NICU)at Peter Lougheed Centre,bringing stockings for momswho would be spendingChristmas with their littleones in the hospital. It’s noteasy being away from homeat Christmas, so the giftsfilled with toiletries and afew personal items were awelcome surprise!“I am simply amazed by the generosityyou have in giving to those who havebeen placed in these circumstances.All the items were personalized andwarmed my heart. Thank you. We willdefinitely pay it forward.”– Mom, whose premature son was in the NICU“It is very hard to have twins so earlyand worry about them all the time.Your kindness has brightenedour day. Thank you.”– Mom of twins who were in the NICU at ChristmasSanta’s stop at Peter Lougheed Centre’s NICU broughtChristmas joy to moms and their families.26 Calgary Health Trust