Heeding the Call in a Crisis
Charitable giving to UT Southwestern rises to meet a historic pandemic
Throughout the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unrelenting challenge to daily rhythms and routines. Health care professionals innovated to save lives and drive research. Schools and businesses formulated plans to meet the needs of communities. Families and friends found new ways of staying close to loved ones.
Despite its challenges, this ongoing public health crisis has been marked by acts of resilience, kindness, and big-hearted giving. Here’s a look at how UT Southwestern Medical Center’s community of friends and donors made a difference – everything from cash to caches of protective equipment – in response to a global pandemic.
Wide-ranging needs, far reaching gifts
Facing COVID-19 presented a stark challenge. UT Southwestern physicians, researchers and health professionals needed to act swiftly. Recognizing the need, donors responded with gifts of all sizes, contributing not only dollars, but gifts of protective gear, meals, and other necessities.
Since the pandemic begain last April, more than 620 donors have contributed more than $4.9 million to support COVID-19 relief at UT Southwestern. UT Southwestern Medical Center
Meeting basic needs
Pivotal to the COVID-19 response, frontline health workers dedicated long hours to caring for patients and advancing our understanding of the virus. When physicians and nurses were hungry, philanthropy answered with thousands of meals. When health care professionals struggled to balance grueling work schedules and their families, donors provided child-care support.
Donors provided more than 30,000 meals for frontline workers at UT Southwestern. UT Southwestern Medical Center
The gift of protection
Health care workers could only be effective if they were protected. Donations of face masks, face shields, gloves, and other personal protective equipment provided medical armor against the constant threat of workplace exposure to the virus.
Faced with global shortages of protective gear, donors contributed nearly 300,000 pieces of PPE to protect UT Southwestern health care professionals. UT Southwestern Medical Center
Taking the measure of COVID-19
Understanding how the virus spread through our communities is as vital as treating its effects. Backed by public and private support, UT Southwestern launched the DFW COVID-19 Prevalence Study. By collecting information about how the virus is impacting the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, this ongoing study is yielding findings that guide policy makers, civic leaders, and the public to make smart, informed decisions to help contain the spread of the virus.
In an effort understand the virus' spread throughout Dallas and Tarrant counties, UT Southwestern workers have surveyed and administered coronavirus screenings to more than 18,500 residents. UT Southwestern Medical Center
Expressing gratitude
Supporting COVID-19 relief efforts at UT Southwestern has meant different things to different donors. Some see a chance to heal or protect. Others strive to comfort, and sustain.
For Dallas residents Jean and Tom Walter, their reason for giving can be summed up in one word: gratitude.
"UT Southwestern Medical Center has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 battle," said Mr. Walter. "Our gift is a sincere expression of gratitude at having one of the nation's leading academic medical centers in our commnunity. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to be able to lend support to UT Southwestern as it pursues an essential mission of leading-edge research and clinical care, all the while keeping our community informed of what we can do to manage and overcome the current pandemic."