Nathalie Binney believes in giving back — and as a result, she spends a lot of time at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“My neighbors joke that I live at Mass General — and maybe I do,” she says with a laugh. For years, Nathalie has made regular trips from her home in Salem, Mass. to donate blood. Recently, she started donating platelets too, which required making small adjustments to her diet and medication. Unlike blood donation, which can be completed in less than 30 minutes, platelet donation can take two or more hours. The time commitment doesn’t bother Nathalie, though. She just plans accordingly.
“I’ve never forgotten all the things this hospital has done for me, and so I’m always looking for ways to help,” she says.
That same commitment to planning and giving back also extends to her philanthropy. Nathalie has left a provision in her will to support Mass General after she’s gone, making her a member of the Phillips Society. The Phillips Society honors those who name the hospital as a beneficiary of a will, retirement plan, donor-advised fund or life insurance policy; establish a charitable gift annuity or trust; or create an endowed fund. These visionary planned giving donors are carrying on a tradition of philanthropy that supports exceptional care along with groundbreaking research and medical education programs.
A Mass General patient for over 50 years, Nathalie traces her dedication back to her first hospital visit as a young woman, when she met with Ann Brace Barnes, MD — a pioneering OB/GYN and the first female surgical intern trained at Mass General — who immediately put her at ease, and the two developed a bond.
“Dr. Barnes told me, ‘Should you have the opportunity to continue to live in the Boston area, Massachusetts General Hospital is a truly amazing medical facility, and you will always be well taken care of. That I can assure you,’” she says. “And time has proven Dr. Barnes right. Mass General has been a presence in my life, and I don’t take that for granted.”
Nathalie also credits her family, and particularly her great aunt Mary, for inspiring her philanthropy. “She taught me that if you have the resources, they should be shared — but also that you need to designate those resources before you die to make sure.”
For Nathalie Binney, her planned gift to Mass General is about giving back to a community that’s always been there for her when she needed it.
“I don’t need my name on anything,” she says. “I just believe in saying thank you.”
To learn more about how you can remember the hospital in your estate plan and create a legacy to advance medicine, please contact our Office of Planned Giving at mghdevpg@mgh.harvard.edu or 617.643.2220.
