Thank you.

Naming names

I’m delighted that Vale Tudo’s year-end fundraiser surpassed its goal. It succeeded because of generous donors including Linda Lebrun, Paul Romig, John Ord, Neil Shah, William Ware, Vipul Shah, Jeffrey Sammis, Marshall Grossack, Marc Brown, David Pratt, Barinder Sangha, Rob Gutman, Greg Valenza, Angelo Guerriero, Kyler Hasson, Guido Neethling, Bruce Henley, Sanuel Buckley, Henry McHenry, Carl Onuchovsky, and others who gave anonymously or through their donor advised funds (thankful but not naming names without knowing that their gifts were intended to be public).

A special thanks to three donors who are also old friends in real life or “IRL” as the kids say: Liz Speck who has been a constant friend since freshman orientation, Tom Isenberg who has been with me since my first taste of crispy beef from Shun Lee Palace, and Jonathan Shafter, a trusted friend and ally since the deepest depths of the financial crisis. Liz, Tom, and Jonathan have always been there for me in ways great and small. Friends like that make me want to be at my best. This year had high highs and low lows; I couldn’t have made it through alone. I hope I can be there for them the way they’ve been there for me.

Finally, thanks to Mackinnon Engen for making Watsi such a strong force for good in the world. You are exactly the right person to lead this mission. You have a heart for the patients we serve. You make the process run smoothly. You get the best out of people because your encouragement is so genuine. Every time I have a new idea or make a new donation, your reaction makes me want to offer more. 482 patients in 13 countries is just the start. I enjoyed every minute of our collaboration on the special 3x donation match that we invented and funded. May we build on that to reach more patients!