Planned Giving: Bequests and Charitable Gift Planning

Persistence, and with a smile

As active volunteers and donors, Bob and Jane White share their story of how Hudson Hospital Foundation and Hudson Hospital & Clinics has helped improve their lives.

Three mornings a week, you'll find Bob White on the treadmill at the Hudson Hospital & Clinics fitness center, located in the Rehabilitation Center. At age 78, he admits that the creaks and aches in his body often tempt him to skip his workout. But he gets right on that treadmill.

"I walk in with my legs aching, but after 10 minutes on the treadmill, that goes away," White says. "It's going to add some years to my life and something I've accepted that needs to be done in order to stay healthy." For 10 years, White has adjusted his lifestyle to protect his heart, which was repaired in an emergency open-heart surgery. That means a breakfast of boiled oatmeal each day (with just a little bit of brown sugar) and other meals that include lots of fruits and vegetables, no salt and occasionally a little red meat. These diet changes, along with his medications, keep White healthy. He fears his sedentary career days as a teacher and charter bus driver, along with unhealthy eating habits, may have contributed to his heart disease. But his attitude is all about optimism for a full and healthy day.

"Bob and his wife have found the key to healthy lifestyle," says White's cardiologist, Thomas Kottke, MD "Every morning, they say to themselves, 'Today we will live healthy.' Without this attitude, they would fail because the majority of people around them do not live healthy lives and the majority of ads they see on TV and billboards are not for healthy behaviors." Bob and Jane say it helps to be surrounded by encouraging friends at Hudson Hospital & Clinics, where they are both longtime volunteers. "They are like family here," Jane says.

The attitude to live healthy can impact your choices on a daily basis.

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Estate & Planned Giving