Donors Give Infants a Fighting Chance

Time is of the essence for infants struggling to survive a traumatic birth, which can starve the brain of oxygen. During the first few hours – when brain swelling is the critical concern – whole-body cooling can affect not only the baby's survival, but also quality of life for years to come.

This process immerses a baby's body in a cool environment after delivery to slow circulation and prevent or reduce brain damage. If the process is started within six hours of birth, the infant has a much better outcome.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of donors like Marc and Michelle Tuchman, newborns have a growing number of lifesaving resources like this on their side.

A little over five years ago, Marc Tuchman – a retired director of the UC Irvine Student Center – and his wife, Michelle, decided they wanted to make a gift to the university that would have a lasting impact. The neonatal intensive care unit at UCI Medical Center was where they landed.

"Once you've visited the NICU and have seen these infants, your heart simply breaks for them. You can't stand by and do nothing," says Marc. "We were just so impressed with what the physicians, nurses and staff do there, along with their care and devotion. As soon as Michelle and I left the unit, without saying a word to one another, we both knew that this was where we were going to put the resources that we'll leave behind when we're gone."

The Tuchmans established a blended gift (partially outright and partially an estate gift) that will go to the UCI Health NICU, providing resources for future technologies and programs that keep UCI Health at the forefront of care for critically ill, premature and full-term infants.

Since committing to an estate gift, they have continued to support the NICU in other ways, such as hosting several Care-a-thon events where many students and alumni gather to raise funds for the NICU.

Additionally, they have made outright gifts to support the NICU using tax-savvy IRA qualified charitable distributions (aka "IRA charitable rollover"). Many donors like the Tuchmans have decided to use this tax-smart way to make annual gifts in addition to committing to planned gifts.

Through generous planning for future giving and tax-smart on-going annual giving, the Tuchmans are making an impact by saving one life at a time.