Newsroom: True Stories/Grant Award Profiles

Foundation Awards a Record Number of Grants

The MDRT Foundation has come a long way since its first appearance at an Annual Meeting, when one staff member seated at a folding table represented the Foundation. This year the Foundation's worldwide impact was seen throughout the meeting.

During the 2002 MDRT Annual Meeting, the Foundation awarded nearly $400,000 in grants. This is two times more than has ever been given at an Annual Meeting.

After the opening Main Platform speech on Sunday, June 23, the Foundation gave speaker Rudolph W. Giuliani, New York City's former mayor, a $100,000 grant for the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC). The NYSPCC, founded in 1877, is the world's oldest child protection agency. The $100,000 is part of the $265,000 raised from members and staff for MDRT's Disaster Relief Fund. The rest of the grant money will go to a variety of charitable organizations that provide support for the victims of September 11.

The grant money will go to the NYSPCC's "Strength of Our Society — Talking About 9/11" program. The program helps parents, teachers and employees of social services agencies cope with the aftermath of September 11 and provides training to assist adults in identifying and dealing with grief-stricken or distressed children in their care.

The Foundation also gave grant money to Main Platform speakers Carol Porter and Cody Unser. Porter, founder of Kid-Care Inc., the nation's first meals-on-wheels program for children, received $25,000 from the Foundation for her organization. Unser, daughter of racecar driver Al Unser Jr., was diagnosed at the age of 12 with transverse myelitis (TM), a rare spinal cord inflammation which can cause paralysis or death. Unser and her family formed the Cody Unser First Step Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting knowledge of and coordinating research on TM. The Foundation presented her with $25,000 for her organization.

MDRT's 2002 Foundation President, Allen R. Bruce, CLU, ChFC, of Silver Spring, Maryland, announced the 2002 Quality of Life Grant winners. Quality of Life grants recognize MDRT members' outstanding volunteerism and leadership. A total of $72,500 was donated to 21 individual charities in the name of 21 MDRT member volunteers.

View the 2002 Winners