A Special ‘Thank You’

Being a trustee on the Foundation’s board can be a demanding job. Nevertheless, three of our current trustees have made it all the way to a fourth term, the longest a trustee can serve according to Foundation by-laws. Like the famous advertising bunny, these three have kept going and going in service to the hospital and the community. They deserve a special “thank you” as their trustee careers draw to a close.

For Dick Cavagnaro, serving on the board is a family affair. His father, Ray C and naturally avagnaro, was a founding trustee,Dick took an interest in the hospital and attended many Foundation’s events. “When someone asked me to join the board,” he says, “I jumped at the chance.”

Dick signed on in 1988, but after the Cavagnaro family business was sold in 1992, he had more time for volunteer work. That has included everything from parking cars at the Wine Auction and running the “Day for the Queen” barbecue to serving on the board’s Executive Committee.
When his board term ends later this year Dick plans to take some time off for travel. “I’m going to be a lot less active,” he says. “But I’ll probably still do maybe one event a year.” After all, it’s a family tradition.

|Linda Malloy had been a docent with the Show House and her mother-in-law, Dolly Malloy, was a hospital volunteer and member of Community Projects, so Linda already had ties to the Queen when Jim Asbury invited her to join the board. “I didn’t know anything about the Foundation,” she says. “But the hospital is something the whole community uses, and I wanted to do something for the whole community.”
At first, Linda was overwhelmed by how much the Foundation did. But she soon hit her stride and became a vital part of the board’s activities, serving on the Executive Committee for several years and taking a leading role in many special events, including chairing the Show House and Day for the Queen and working at the Wine Auction, in the Transamerica office, and with the golf tournament’s traveling dental clinic.
“I’ve enjoyed it,” says Linda, who’ll leave the board this fall. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but I’ve met great people that I’m still friends with today.” She’s also enjoyed the challenge of coming up with new ideas for events every year. “Getting in there,” she says, “and doing your best—that’s the fun of it.”

Lorraine Yates originally joined the board to fill out someone else’s term, so when she departs next spring she’ll have served 13 years. She came on board in 1988 after helping with the Show House. “Jim Fogarty called me up and I said yes, because this was something I wanted to do,” she says. ‘I enjoy volunteering. At times it gets a little crazy, but I thoroughly enjoy doing it.”
Lorraine has continued to be involvedwith the Show Houses and with just about every other Foundation event, usually as a committee or event chair. She’s also served on the Executive Committee and been very active in board affairs. Like her fellow four-termers, Lorraine has seen tremendous changes in the Foundation during her tenure. “When I joined, the board members did everything. We used to sit around the table and hand-address all the invitations for ‘Day for the Queen’! Now there’s an office, a staff, and it’s more like a business.”
Although she remembers the earlier all-volunteer days fondly, she’s quick to point out that the scale of today’s Foundation activities requires a more professional approach. “The amount we raise has grown immensely, and that reflects the needs of the hospital.” As for addressing all those envelopes, Lorraine laughs and says, “I don’t miss that at all.”