Joey Wahler (Host): It's a major annual fundraising initiative happening on December 3rd, benefiting healthcare efforts throughout the community. So, we're discussing Giving Tuesday. Our guests, Jarrett Stull, Executive Director of the Memorial Health Foundation; Dr. Joe Zacharias, he's President of Medical Staff for Memorial Health System and a member of the Memorial Health Foundation Board of Trustees as well; and also, Staci Matheney is with us. She's President of People's Bank Foundation and People's Insurance Agency.

This is Memorial Health Radio with Memorial Health System Ohio. Thanks for joining us. I'm Joey Wahler. Welcome to all three of you. Thanks for being with us.

Joe Zacharias, MD: Thank you.

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Thank you, Joey.

Staci Matheney: Good morning. Thank you.

Host: Great to have you aboard. So first, Jarrett, tell us, what exactly is Giving Tuesday for those unaware?

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Giving Tuesday is really a global generosity movement that's happening around the world, always occurs the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and it unleashes the power of people and organizations to give back and make a huge impact in their community.

Host: And so, how can people get involved?

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Absolutely. You know, Giving Tuesday, you know, it's a powerful yet simple way that anyone can be involved and clearly by making a gift on Giving Tuesday to our organization, and they can do that simply at our website, or we have a special Giving Tuesday website at mhsystem.org/givingtuesday. They can, of course, mail a check that day, letting us know they're doing that. So, it gets counted on that day. They can call our office, which is at 740-374-4913.

But aside from making a gift themselves that day, there's other ways to be involved, such as being an ambassador for Giving Tuesday. Sharing, for example, on their social media and through their networks or texting their friends and networks about this day and about the gift that they have made to Memorial Health Foundation. And while they have done that, encouraging their friends and their family and their network to do the same, to stand up that day and show leadership and support our local healthcare where all the money stays local to help members that live right here where we do.

Host: And so, there are various things going on, of course, in conjunction with that day. Staci, what can you tell us about the People's Bank Challenge?

Staci Matheney: Thank you, Joey. I'm pleased to share that this is the fourth year in a row that People's Bank Foundation is issuing a challenge during Memorial Health Foundation's Giving Tuesday campaign, and we're delighted to encourage and join other organizations across the region to help unleash the power of their generosity. So, we're offering a generous gift of $15,000 if we get a hundred donors between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Any size gift counts and you can choose the patient initiative your gift will support. So even if you've already given this year, please consider unleashing your generosity one more time as all gifts directly benefit our local patients right here at home.

Host: And Staci, as far as this partnership is concerned, why exactly does People's Bank Foundation support Memorial Health Foundation?

Staci Matheney: So at People's Bank Foundation, we recognize that we're fortunate to have world-class healthcare right here in our region. This is why actively supporting the efforts of Memorial Health System is so important. Not only do we support the Foundation on Giving Tuesdays, but we also give back when we are compelled to support the wonderful things they're bringing to our area. So, we recently just committed to a $2.5 million contribution towards the development of Memorial Health System's new women and children's hospital. So, we're just excited to be part of the community, and we're excited to be able to be here to help whenever they need us.

Host: And, Doctor, what can you tell us about the Provider Challenge for Giving Tuesday?

Joe Zacharias, MD: Yeah, yeah, sure, Joey. So, this Giving Tuesday, I'm honored to join my fellow colleagues at the Memorial Health System, you know, to make a meaningful impact on our community. For the second consecutive year, our dedicated providers are coming together to participate in the Provider Challenge, uniting to support the Memorial Health Foundation.

This year, we're actually inspired by the generosity of Tri-State Roofing and Sheet Metal and the Spartan Foundation, who together have pledged a $100,000-challenge gift. So, we aim to match this contribution to raise $300,000 for urgently needed defibrillators for the Memorial Health System. Our hope is to inspire our colleagues to join us in meeting this goal so we can strengthen the quality for everyone we serve. You know, giving back to our community is obviously deeply rewarding and our support will help us ensure that world-class care remains within the reach for all.

Host: And, Doctor, speaking of which, as a board member on Memorial Health Foundation's Board of Trustees, how about the Together Campaign and its progress, which is another part of this day and these ongoing efforts? What can you tell us about that?

Joe Zacharias, MD: Sure. Yeah. We recently celebrated the announcement of the Memorial Health Foundation's Together Campaign, a five-year, $50 million initiative, dedicated to transforming healthcare in our community. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we're already at 37 million towards our goal. With everyone's help, we can go the distance.

So when giving to the Together Campaign, one can choose the area of impact that means the most to them. It could be the Women's and Children's Hospital or the Securing the Endowment or the Memorial Health Fund. Just last month, we broke ground in Belpre for our new Women's and Children's Hospital. It is first of its kind in our region and, obviously, a vital resource for families. This facility is expected to open in 2026 and will provide specialized care close to home, including a level 2 NICU, pediatric care, and comprehensive women's services.

This Giving Tuesday, I invite you to join us in building this vision. Every gift, no matter the size, helps us bring world-class care to our community. So, please consider making a meaningful contribution on December 3rd. Together, we can make a lasting impact.

Host: Indeed, and also, Doctor, you mentioned there the Women's and Children's Hospital. How exciting is that?

Joe Zacharias, MD: Oh, yeah, very exciting. I mean, like I mentioned earlier, it is first of a kind in this region. And so, it's going to be a great resource for our families and the community.

Host: Absolutely. Jarrett, back to you for a moment. What impact have you seen Giving Tuesday provide to the community?

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Well, it has been huge for our health system and what we're able to put right back into the community to help our patients. You know, transportation, often one of our number one requests from patients is having reliable transportation or being able to afford the fuel to get to and from their appointments. And often, you know, we do talk about, and you've heard today, there's no gift that's too small and that is so true, because every week we are giving 10 and 20 gas cards to patients and that makes all the difference for them to get to their appointments that week. So, small gifts absolutely make a huge impact in our community.

But aside from transportation, helping with our cancer patient emergency fund, ensuring patients that are on their cancer journey have all the resources they need to get through their journey is very important. And also, we are helping ensure that patients who are uninsured or underinsured can receive the life-saving diagnostic testing through our breast health fund that they need. In addition to that, there are funds that touch all corners really of our health system from Pediatrics to patients that are not admitted to the hospital to bariatric services and our therapy services. So, our 30 funds that are heavily supported on this day truly make a huge difference in the lives of our patients. And in the past few years, we have seen about half of the gifts. So, we raised about $400,000 last year and nearly 50% of that was designated to our area of greatest needs, which is vitally important.

You heard Dr. Zacharias mention the need for defibrillators, and that has become a need very recently throughout our health system that we have a need to replace and add to that equipment need. And so, our ability to have the flexibility to meet the immediate needs that come up through the area of greatest needs is extremely important to us. And, you know, I just want say as well, you know, with Staci and People's Bank and People's Bank Foundation, that they're with us on every step of the way, and all of our needs and we are incredibly grateful for the partnership with People's Bank and our physicians. They are so passionate about the care that they provide to our community, and they extend that through their philanthropy. So, they're caring for the patient in a multitude of ways. And we are just extremely grateful for the generosity we have throughout our health system and our community.

Host: And Jarrett, also, since we're covering obviously how people can get involved in different ways, how about Memorial Health System employees? How can they be part of this?

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Absolutely. We have a special program called our Hero Program for our employees. And they have, you know, a few other ways that people that aren't employees to get involved, such as being able to make gifts through payroll deductions, spread it out over the 26 pays that happen within a year. They also have the ability, those that have eligible PTO and vacation time, they can use that to make a gift as well. And so, our employees have a few other options in addition to using a credit card or writing a check. We're transferring stock, all those options are available. But, you know, often in our community, I am asked very often, "How many of your physicians, how many of your staff are supporting or giving back to the health system?" That is something that is really important to our community. And we're very lucky to have a very high percentage of our team, our own team members, giving back. And that makes a difference to our community. They see that this isn't just a paycheck for our team members, that they care enough that they are giving part of what they make here back to the health system, but back really to help the patients to directly help ensure the patients have all they need along their health care journey. So, our team members, there's some promotions that they will be seeing internally about how to be involved in this. And last year, roughly half of the donors, the 250 donors that we saw, were our own team members.

Host: That's impressive, yeah?

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Yes.

Host: And so, in closing here, how about the sense of fulfillment for each of you being involved with such a great cause? How about you, Staci?

Staci Matheney: I was going to say, Joey, one of the things that we pride ourselves in, especially in the community we've been in, so we found our home offices here in Marietta, Ohio, Washington County, where Memorial Health Foundation is as well, and we've been around for over 120 years. So, the fact that human services is one of our biggest things that we focus on, that we're able to help Jarrett and the Memorial Health Foundation raise money, to give back to the communities that we're in. We take pride in that because we know that if we can help the communities that we work and live in grow, we can help the communities around us. So, we are honored to be part of this and we're honored to help out in any way that we can.

Host: And, Doctor, how about for you? What's the best part of all this?

Joe Zacharias, MD: Well, you know, obviously, I'm a physician, so taking care of humans. So, the bottom line is bringing care to this community, taking care of the the loved ones, the family. Obviously, it brings a lot of meaning to this campaign. More importantly, you know, my own family has been in this community for more than a decade. So, that's the most impact it has.

Host: How about you, Jarrett?

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Well, I have a very special seat that I see the impact every single day of how we are helping. And that's what drives me and drives my team to want to do more and to share those stories with people. And I often get asked, "Isn't fundraising hard?" or "I could never ask people for money." And I know people don't wake up every day thinking about how can I give my money away, but I get to be that connector, right? I get to share the stories on how our donors get to have gratitude for seeing an impact of what their gift, again, no matter the size, small and very large, what it is really doing to the people that they see at the grocery store, at the gas station, walking on the street, every single day that we are helping people right here where we live, everything stays local. And that is very rewarding to me, to where I sit and the position that I have to be able to help in this way. And to see Giving Tuesday, so many of our community rally around this one day to come together to donate such a large amount of money in one single day. It's just fascinating, we live in such a generous region and community of Southeast Ohio.

Host: Absolutely. Well, folks, we trust you're now more familiar with Giving Tuesday. Again, on December 3rd this year. Jarrett, Doctor, Staci, good luck with this year's edition. Keep up all your great work, and thanks so much again for being with us.

Joe Zacharias, MD: Thank you.

Jarrett Stull, CFRE: Thank you.

Staci Matheney: Thank you.

Host: Absolutely. And for more information and to get connected with a provider, please visit mhsystem.org. Please remember to subscribe, rate, review this podcast and all the other Memorial Health System podcasts as well. If you found this one helpful, please do share it on your social media. I'm Joey Wahler, and thanks again for being part of Memorial Health Radio with Memorial Health System.