Leaving a Meaningful Family Legacy to Support Pediatric Innovation
Jack Belcher's generous gift designation to University Hospitals through his trust is a perfect fit. A retired educator and administrator for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Jack is supporting intellectual discovery at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. The Belcher-Weir Family Pediatric Innovation Program will endow and expand Pediatric Innovation Day, an annual event that celebrates ingenuity and rewards UH employees for ideas that have the potential to result in medical breakthroughs in pediatric care.
Knowing his parents would be honored to have their family name associated with this gift, Jack was very involved in making his legacy meaningful and came to committee meetings to give his input. Jack also contributes annually to Pediatric Innovation Day to engage keynote speakers who share their expertise on the importance of innovation.
As an art collector, Jack's engagement with UH goes beyond innovation. He is a member of the National Art Leadership Council at University Hospitals and supports the UH Fine Art Collection. Over the years, he has also contributed gifts of art to UH.
Jack is also passionate about dogs, in particular his best friend and companion, Giant Schnauzer Odin. He recognizes their value as therapy, assistance and service dogs. Jack has been involved with the Grafton Correctional Institution where both inmates and dogs rehabilitate through the Love-A-Pup Program.
Recently, Jack designated an additional gift to support pediatric innovation at UH in gratitude for the life-saving care he received. "Over the past several years, I have developed a deep appreciation for University Hospitals' impressive contributions to our region's health care," reflected Jack. "I was the recipient of high-quality surgery, and I am thankful to Rod Rezaee, MD, FACS, Director of Head & Neck Reconstructive Surgery at UH Cleveland Medical Center, for his empathy, and immediate and expert attention to my health care needs."