Stan and Helen Buell’s relationship has taken them around the world — from Halifax to Montreal, the Middle East and Toronto, to retiring to their home in Prince Edward Island.
An engineer and teacher, their careers allowed them to see how people of all ages and various cultures strive to live healthy lives.
One place their paths kept leading them back to was the QEII Health Science Centre in Halifax.
“My family has benefitted greatly from the care at the QEII on various occasions,” says Helen. “My brother had a successful open-heart surgery at the QEII, and he and the family felt he was well taken care of. I am pleased that one of my nieces is a nurse there.”
In 2016, the QEII became even more important to Stan when a stress test at his home hospital in PEI revealed a serious heart issue.
“They arranged for me to go to the QEII for an operation that couldn’t have been done on the Island,” says Stan. “I had a couple of arteries that were getting well clogged up. It was a long procedure — took over an hour and a half when it’s normally a 20-minute procedure, but my arteries were calcified. In the end I had three stents inserted.”
“The QEII team was very good. We found all the nurses, the doctors and everyone were just wonderful.”
To say thank you, each year Stan and Helen try to make a donation to both the QEII and their home hospital on the Island. This year the couple made a $5,000 gift to help fund minimally invasive cardiac surgery equipment at the QEII.
Over the years, Stan has had a lot of experience with stocks and securities. It wasn’t until ten years ago when they made a cash donation to their hospital in PEI that the office manager pointed out to him that giving with securities can make our gift go further.
“They saw that we were giving cash and took the time to explain the benefits of giving stocks and getting a tax break with a charitable receipt for the market value of the shares. As a result, it doesn't cost you as much to give, or you can give more — whichever way you want to look at it. If you give $10,000 cash, it’s just $10,000 out of your pocket. But if you give $10,000 worth of shares, it's only the purchase cost of the shares out of your pocket, and the tax receipt will offset other capital gains. It’s a win-win. Your donation goes further when you give through securities.”
Helen and Stan are very happy to be able to say “thank you” to the healthcare teams at the QEII with this gift.
“We hope people consider giving to health care and to the QEII. It’s a wonderful way of giving back to honour what they've done for you or your family. It also helps other people, too. You never know when you're going to need it.”
To donate gifts of securities to the QEII Foundation to support health care at the QEII, visit QE2Foundation.ca/securities.
