Support Helps Patient Find Peace and Comfort in Recovery

Diana Gerbehy at her wedding

"My future looks pretty great. I'm looking forward to my life now. My treatments are peppered with all these joyful moments that donors provide. I'm really hopeful now. I have so much to look forward to."
—Diana Gerbehy, newlywed and recurrent breast cancer patient at Princeton Medical Center

Diana Gerbehy was about to get married and looking forward to celebrating with family and friends. By 2018, she had already survived breast cancer twice. In the previous two years, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, lumpectomies and hope had been her focus. After her second diagnosis, she made the decision to have a double mastectomy. By removing all of her breast tissue, she thought it might help prevent the cancer from coming back. But three weeks before her wedding she got the news: It was cancer. Again.

Diana and her Princeton Medical Center care team worked together to create a treatment plan that would allow her to continue with her wedding. Diana was able to postpone treatment just until after her honeymoon.

Throughout her care, Diana has found the help she's needed because of your support. When she's getting her treatments, she can relieve the anxiety she sometimes feels by looking out the windows and watching birds at the feeders in the healing garden. Generous donors like you created this peaceful place.

Diana finds comfort in support groups where she shares her story with others who are going through similar experiences. You help provide these extras that are crucial for patients to heal emotionally as well as physically.

Her favorite days are the dog therapy days. Diana brings treats for the dogs. They help calm her during treatments. Philanthropy provides these bright spots that make a patient's day.

"I know other hospitals don't have what we have. I am so grateful for the people who support Princeton Medical Center," Diana says. "When I am able, I want to give back, too. I want to help other patients have the kind of care I receive."

Patients like Diana need your help every day at Princeton Medical Center. When you give to Princeton Medical Center Foundation, your gift supports more than medical care. You help give patients like Diana services they need to heal, hope and live. For the past 100 years, friends like you have been a light of hope for so many.

To continue that light for the next 100 years, contact Danielle Oviedo at 609.252.8709 or danielle.oviedo@pennmedicine.upenn.edu to learn more about the Legacy Challenge. Ensure that hope shines even brighter for the next 100 years.

A charitable bequest is one or two sentences in your will or living trust that leave to Princeton Medical Center Foundation a specific item, an amount of money, a gift contingent upon certain events or a percentage of your estate.

an individual or organization designated to receive benefits or funds under a will or other contract, such as an insurance policy, trust or retirement plan

"I hereby give, devise and bequeath to the Trustees of Princeton Healthcare System Foundation, a nonprofit corporation organized and operating under the laws of the State of New Jersey and located in Plainsboro, New Jersey, the sum of $____________ [or percentage of your estate or a specific description of the gift] to be used by Princeton Medicine [describe the purpose of gift her, if desired]."

able to be changed or cancelled

A revocable living trust is set up during your lifetime and can be revoked at any time before death. They allow assets held in the trust to pass directly to beneficiaries without probate court proceedings and can also reduce federal estate taxes.

cannot be changed or cancelled

tax on gifts generally paid by the person making the gift rather than the recipient

the original value of an asset, such as stock, before its appreciation or depreciation

the growth in value of an asset like stock or real estate since the original purchase

the price a willing buyer and willing seller can agree on

The person receiving the gift annuity payments.

the part of an estate left after debts, taxes and specific bequests have been paid

a written and properly witnessed legal change to a will

the person named in a will to manage the estate, collect the property, pay any debt, and distribute property according to the will

A donor advised fund is an account that you set up but which is managed by a nonprofit organization. You contribute to the account, which grows tax-free. You can recommend how much (and how often) you want to distribute money from that fund to Princeton Medical Center or other charities. You cannot direct the gifts.

An endowed gift can create a new endowment or add to an existing endowment. The principal of the endowment is invested and a portion of the principal’s earnings are used each year to support our mission.

Tax on the growth in value of an asset—such as real estate or stock—since its original purchase.

Securities, real estate or any other property having a fair market value greater than its original purchase price.

Real estate can be a personal residence, vacation home, timeshare property, farm, commercial property or undeveloped land.

A charitable remainder trust provides you or other named individuals income each year for life or a period not exceeding 20 years from assets you give to the trust you create.

You give assets to a trust that pays our organization set payments for a number of years, which you choose. The longer the length of time, the better the potential tax savings to you. When the term is up, the remaining trust assets go to you, your family or other beneficiaries you select. This is an excellent way to transfer property to family members at a minimal cost.

You fund this type of trust with cash or appreciated assets—and may qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize. You can also make additional gifts; each one also qualifies for a tax deduction. The trust pays you, each year, a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. When the trust terminates, the remaining principal goes to Princeton Medical Center as a lump sum.

You fund this trust with cash or appreciated assets—and may qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction when you itemize. Each year the trust pays you or another named individual the same dollar amount you choose at the start. When the trust terminates, the remaining principal goes to Princeton Medical Center as a lump sum.

A beneficiary designation clearly identifies how specific assets will be distributed after your death.

A charitable gift annuity involves a simple contract between you and Princeton Medical Center where you agree to make a gift to Princeton Medical Center and we, in return, agree to pay you (and someone else, if you choose) a fixed amount each year for the rest of your life.

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