From the Lights of Love Endowment Advisory Committee

The Lights of Love Endowment Advisory Committee presented a check for $20,257 on Monday afternoon to Vidant Beaufort Hospital, as part of its Lights of Love Endowment fund.
The money is helping to cover this year’s funding requests from various departments of the hospital.
The Lights of Love Endowment was created at a time when disaster struck the Foundation several years ago.
In September of 2008, the Board of Trustees for the Beaufort County Hospital Foundation was in crisis mode, having just found out nearly $100,000 was embezzled from the organization. The board, made up entirely of unpaid volunteers, made the decision after much consideration to move forward in a manner that would not only support the mission to fund hospital initiatives and honor donor intent, but also provide increased oversight of public funds.

The board felt it needed to have professionals manage the Foundation’s assets and dissolve the organization. The Foundation chose the North Carolina Community Foundation to manage the funds and appointed an oversight committee to safeguard the purposes of annual grants.
The Foundation then established two endowments for the benefit of Beaufort County Hospital and its predecessors: the Lights of Love Endowment (donor-advised fund) and the Tayloe-Ainsworth Scholarship Endowment (designated fund).
The Lights of Love Endowment has continued to provide funds each year for the purchase of “extras” as requested by the various departments of the hospital. It has funded nearly $70,000 in requests, including this year’s grant check. With the court-ordered repayment of the embezzled funds added, the endowment stands at $440,000.
The Lights of Love advisory committee is made up of Phil Holloman, Frank Belote, Chris Tkach, Alma Friedman and Jimmy Oakley, who meet every year to review the funding requests.
The Tayloe-Ainsworth Scholarship Endowment generates about $6,800 per year for Wellness Center Scholarships. Physicians recommend these scholarships, and request for payment is made directly by the Wellness Center. This endowment now stands at $128,000.
Despite the turmoil that ensued after the embezzlement discovery, funds given by the citizens of Beaufort and surrounding counties continue to shine on the hospital.

Gifts may be made to the Lights of Love Endowment, No. 1241, at North Carolina Community Foundation, 4601 Six Forks Road, Suite 524, Raleigh, N.C. 27609 or by contacting any member of the advisory committee.