Donor Stories
Major gift to the Foundation is capstone to AAOMS presidency for Dr. and Mrs. Indresano
Dr. A. Thomas Indresano has witnessed the evolution of the OMS Foundation firsthand from the vantage point of academia, making time during his career as a professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery to serve as a Foundation Director in 1992-94 and again in 2010-12. As an AAOMS Trustee, newly retired from the OMS department chairmanship at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, he helped craft and implement the Foundation’s Strategic Alliance with AAOMS.
As his term as AAOMS President neared its conclusion in 2019, Dr. Indresano and his wife, Rita, decided to increase their R.V. Walker Society commitment to $100,000.
It’s gratifying to see the Foundation realizing its potential at last! Rita and I are so appreciative of the value that it brings to the specialty. We agreed that a substantial commitment to the R.V. Walker Society was a worthy legacy; we’re confident that it will be money well spent. The Foundation’s Research Support Grants provide a much-needed funding alternative to NIH, and I cannot overstate the importance of FEDA (Faculty Educator Development Award) grants in keeping our best educators in academia, teaching the next generation of OMS.
– Dr. A. Thomas Indresano
ADA President-Elect is among first major donors to OMSF in 2020
Even as they prepared for Dr. Klemmedson’s responsibilities as president of the American Dental Association in 2021, Dr. Daniel and Adaline Klemmedson took steps to affirm their dedication to the OMS specialty, pledging $50,000 over five years to the OMS Foundation’s OMSFIRE campaign.
On the advice of their financial advisor, the Klemmedsons made their 2020 donation through their Donor Advised Fund (DAF) in order to maximize the tax benefits of their charitable giving.
Giving back is a simple way to express gratitude and make a positive impact on the world around us. The OMS Foundation has been strengthening our community for generations by fostering research and promoting volunteerism. By supporting today’s and tomorrow’s passionate surgeons, we’re all contributing to an even brighter future. OMSFIRE really resonated with us.
– Dr. Daniel Klemmedson
Week of “giving back” inspires resident to “pay it forward” as an OMSF donor.
Dr. Bruno Kuloba, a graduate of Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry serving as an OMS in the U.S. Navy, received a $2,500 Global Initiative for Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) stipend from the OMS Foundation to serve with Smile Bangladesh in March 2019. Already a seasoned volunteer with Jamaica Awareness Association of California, Dr. Kuloba understood the value of a skilled set of hands paired with a generous heart.
Dr. Kuloba credits GIVE with helping to crystallize his ambitions.
We could read the gratitude in the parents’ faces post-op – with the stigma of the cleft deformity gone, their child’s life was forever changed . This experience touched my heart and broadened my horizons. I’m thankful for the clinical training I received, and I’m already looking for more. From there, it was a logical decision to become a Foundation donor. I want to help make opportunities like this available to others.
Recurring donor and R.V. Walker member emphasizes giving back at all career levels
“Whatever you do, always give back” was one of the earliest life lessons Dr. Brett Ferguson learned from his father. “My dad was a postal worker who always gave to the church. He expected a lot of me, and when I’d found my life’s path he made it clear that there was still more for me to do.”
Dr. Ferguson recalls the quandary he faced as a mid-career academic OMS, juggling requests for financial support from multiple deserving alma maters. “Naturally, I wanted to give to all of them—they’d helped shape and advance my career,” he said. “And I wanted to support AAOMS and the OMS Foundation, too. But I didn’t have that kind of money to give away. A financially savvy buddy of mine solved my problem by suggesting that I collectively list those organizations as beneficiaries on a life insurance policy. It was easy, inexpensive and tax deductible, and suddenly I was a philanthropist.”
Dr. Ferguson went on to serve as an officer of AAOMS and in 2018 became its President. He currently serves as a Director for the OMS Foundation and the Chair of the Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry at Truman Medical Center.
Leaders have an obligation to ensure that there’s a pathway to success for the next generation, so Rita and I have diversified our giving strategy to include “something for now and something for later”. “As recurring donors to the Foundation’s Annual Fund we get to see our giving bear fruit in our lifetimes, and our RV Walker commitment via that insurance policy supports research and education after we’re gone. None of this was complicated; the hardest part was getting around to it. But it sure feels good to give back when life has given us so much.
– Dr. Brett Ferguson