Meet Bruce and Sandy Bailey, Proponents of Pediatric Vision Care

Philanthropy has always meant a great deal to Bruce and Sandy Bailey.

The couple has given time, talent and treasure to a number of civic, educational, health and charitable endeavors—including Akron Children’s Foundation. Recently, Bruce and Sandy made a designated beneficiary gift to create the Bruce and Sandra Bailey Endowed Fund, which will support Akron Children’s Foundation’s Vision Center.

“We know how important Akron Children’s is to families in our community,” said Sandy. “We’re happy to be able to help in our own way.”

A vision for helping others

The Baileys made their first gift to our hospital in 1989. Since then, they’ve supported efforts like the Children’s Fund, the Champion for Children’s Fund, the Building on the Promise campaign and the Bruce F. Rothmann, M.D. Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery. They decided to make their most recent planned gift after their granddaughter, Catherine Culp, MD, spent a summer as an intern in our vision center.

“She loved working there,” said Sandy. “Plus, all of our children have had to wear glasses. Bruce has worn them since he was five years old. We’ve seen many different eye experts over the years. We understand the challenges that these children and families face.”

By establishing the Bruce and Sandra Bailey Endowed Fund, the couple hope to support pediatric vision care for generations to come—and to help ease financial burdens on families.

A vision for the future

Bruce and Sandy established their fund by naming Akron Children’s as a designated beneficiary of their charitable remainder trust, with the funds going to the vision center. Beneficiary designations are tax-wise gifts that can be made from retirement plans, life insurance policies or commercial annuities, as well as charitable remainder trusts. They create an effective and easy way to establish a legacy that involves no out-of-pocket money. It’s also a quick and easy process to name our hospital as a beneficiary.

“Akron Children’s is certainly a worthwhile organization to support,” said Bruce. “We don’t know what the future of eye disease will be. But we have a strong belief in the work of Akron Children’s. This money will help build more research and find more solutions to eye problems for children.”

“We know that any child can have an accident that might endanger their eyes,” added Sandy. “Many families might not have insurance or be able to afford that care. We don’t want that to be a problem and hope our contribution will help these families in some way.”

By giving through your estate plan, you can help make a difference in the lives of kids across our community, like the Baileys and their planned gifts have. To learn more, contact Jason V. Sanders, JD at 330-543-8343 or plannedgiving@akronchildrens.org.