Over 65 local residents gathered for the Morristown Memorial Health Foundation’s 17th Annual Brookfield Society Luncheon on Oct. 19, 2010, at the Morris County Country Club. Guests listened to a presentation by Ames Filippone, Jr., MD, and John Salaki, MD, who spoke about “Your Body, The Inside Job.” Now retired, Dr. Filippone served for 21 years as the chief of surgery at Morristown Memorial, and Dr. Salaki, section chief of the Infectious Disease Department, has served as an internist for the past 32 years at Morristown Memorial.
Formed in 1992, the Brookfield Society recognizes individuals who make a difference in their community by bequeathing a planned gift to Morristown Memorial. The Brookfield Society honors the memory of Myra Brookfield , a Morristown resident who bequeathed her home and property on DeHart Street in Morristown in the late 1800s to establish a local hospital. Her will stipulated that the property would be transferred only upon the death of her mother, and only if the community could raise an additional $15,000 within three years for equipment and furnishings. When Miss Brookfield’s mother died two years after Miss Brookfield’s death in 1891, a local appeal to the community raised between $16,000 and $17,000 and Morristown Memorial was created.
By joining the Brookfield Society, members enjoy Courtesy Plus amenities when hospitalized, receive invitations to free financial planning and personal health seminars and consultations with the Health Foundation’s gift planning specialist, and earn tax benefits that result from gift planning. To learn more about the Brookfield Society or to discuss planned giving, please contact Cynthia W. O’Donnell, JD, director of planned giving at the Health Foundation, at 973-593-2418.