CHARITY EVENTS
The Mum Ball committee funded the simulator center which trains Cleveland
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Treasure Coast Medical Report
level of care that they provide to patients.
The fund has given out nearly $600,000 in financial
support to 65 nurses at Cleveland Clinic Martin Health.
Forty-three nurses have graduated and several have been
promoted to leadership positions within the hospital.
Melissa Bennett, a charge nurse in the intensive care unit,
feels grateful to be a recipient of the scholarship program.
She understands firsthand the importance of higher education
and how it has elevated her nursing career. So, she
didn’t hesitate when asked to pitch the program to the ball
committee.
“I was so nervous — I actually cried, because I am so
passionate about nursing,” she says. “This was a huge opportunity,
not just for me, but for my peers. I was so excited
when they said, ‘yes.’”
Bennett began taking classes towards her bachelor’s
degree in 2012, while employed as a staff nurse in the ICU.
She says that furthering her education has broadened her
scope, helped her understand the business side of nursing,
prepared her as a leader and made her a better nurse.
It also paved the way for her to become a charge nurse
that she is so passionate about. Being a nurse is about
touching patients’ lives, she says, adding that she finds it
very fulfilling.
“When I’m at the bedside, I want to make a difference,”
she explains. “And I just don’t want to make them with my
patients, but with their families, too. When someone says,
‘thank you’ — they heartfelt tell you that you really made
a difference. That is the greatest reward that any human,
in my opinion, can receive. It’s knowing that you touched
somebody’s life.” >>
Clinic Martin Health employees in a variety of clinical skills.
FACES OF PHILANTHROPY
“Our families taught us the spirit of charitable giving.
The Community Foundation taught us to give thoughtfully and with impact.”
– Theora “Bunny” & Horace Webb
851 SE Monterey Commons Blvd. | Stuart, FL 34996 | 772.288.3795 | www.tcfmsl.org
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