A Tale of Foundation Teamwork: How a Nourishing Gift for Babies in Need and TGH’s Fundraising Campaign Came to Be

It began with a casual lunch – no set agenda and no expectations other than a chance to connect. For the record, no one ordered milk that day. Yet from this friendly little get-together, a transformative family gift guided by Nikki DeBartolo and husband Chad Chronister will keep that liquid forever flowing in Tampa General Hospital’s (TGH’s) soon-to-open Milk Lab.

For newborns in critical need of life-sustaining nutrition, it means there will always be plentiful supplies of breast milk, donor milk and fortified formula in TGH’s Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), customized to each baby’s needs. And, for mothers who can’t produce enough breast milk, they can rest assured this state-of-the-art space will keep their newborns well fed in the crucial days, weeks or months after birth.

That’s what quietly struck DeBartolo and Chronister, Hillsborough County’s sheriff, who have a history of supporting children’s causes, so they decided to invest $1 million from the DeBartolo Family Foundation. The gift could not have made more of an impact, especially on Foundation Senior Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer Frann Leppla.

“We are so grateful to Nikki and Chad for this meaningful gift in support of our littlest and often most vulnerable patient population,” she says. “The DeBartolos have an unwavering appreciation for the world-class care provided by TGH. Now, more than ever before, the family is seeing the impact of that care and they’re really getting excited about it. We truly couldn’t be more thankful for their support.”

Melissa Golombek, Vice President of TGH’s Children’s Hospital and the Women’s Institute, has good reason to share Leppla’s sentiment. “The gift has made the NICU Care team’s dream a reality – paving the way for a Milk Lab that will potentially help 1,500 babies a year,” Golombek recollects, “We had team members getting tearful, because they wanted to do this for the babies so badly. Now it will be a reality.”

On a recent morning, DeBartolo and Chronister got their first look at the facility, which was completed this summer and is in the process of hiring staff. They were thrilled with what they saw. “It’s easy for some people to just write a check and not see where that’s going,” DeBartolo remarked. “But to actually see all the great things – and how many babies this is going to help – is amazing.”

The timing of the gift couldn’t have been better as the TGH Foundation is currently amid its first-ever fully comprehensive campaign – Elevating Excellence: Innovating Tomorrow’s TGH – which means donors are able to participate by supporting any growth points of the institution. Whether it’s renovating key care units, standing up our new behavioral health hospital, funding our service line strategies, or capital funding for the new Neurosciences, Transplant and Surgical Pavilion, every gift counts. DeBartolo and Chronister are excited to be invested in that change now.

Leppla, for one, couldn’t wait to tell two people about the Milk Lab gift – donors Pam and Les Muma. “The Mumas are very invested in their NICU flourishing and continuing to receive community support,” she says. “So to be able to call them to say the DeBartolo family just made a significant gift to the NICU they love so much was indeed a very special moment.”

And it all flowed from an equally special lunch.

Visit TGH.org/Elevating-Excellence for more information.