BRYAN FOUNDATION

They’re making cancer center a reality

Many thoughtful friends and organizations are supporting our vision to build the April Sampson Cancer Center at the new Bryan South Campus. This comprehensive community cancer center will be conveniently located on a beautiful tract of land near 40th and Rokeby Road. The $45 million, 140,000-square-foot facility will open in 2023.

Following are profiles of six supporters.

To see more information about the center, visit bryanhealth.org/new-cancer-center. To learn how you can support the work of Bryan Health, please call 402-481-8605.

Memorial gift benefits chapel/meditation room

Margaret and Larry Small

Margaret Small was the portrait of an active retiree. She walked the course when golfing, conquered puzzles from the newspaper, played bridge with friends, transformed her yard into a “palette of sweeping color” and nurtured her faith as a lifelong Catholic. “She was trying to be as well-rounded in every field for her mind and body and her health,” says Chapel/meditation room Larry Small, her husband of 45 years. Her pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2018 “was so devastating; it seemed so incredibly unfair,” he remembers. The opportunity to fund the allfaiths chapel in Margaret’s name came with “incredible timing,” Larry says. “I look back on it and couldn’t have even wished for something like this. It’s such a blessing. Like Margaret, the chapel will be loving and welcoming to all people.”

Resource education center

Resource education center named for Riordan

Education was central to who Judy Riordan was as a professional and as a cancer patient. She had a PhD in special education, and she was a 34-year survivor of breast cancer who “really studied the literature,” says Terry Riordan, Judy’s husband of 53 years.

Judy went to her oncology consultations equipped with wide-ranging knowledge about emerging medications and outcomes gleaned from her personal research. She also arrived with an unwavering smile, an optimist’s spirit and a fighter’s persistence.

“She never gave up. She always went in there and was happy, talking with everybody,” Terry says.

“So, it was kind of a no brainer to do something like this in Judy’s name. I had been looking for charities that I’d like to support, and the new cancer center sounded like a good one.”

Judy Riordan Borgogna’s culinary legacy endures in new kitchen

Geanine Bordogna’s recipes live on at Tico’s Restaurant in Lincoln through dishes like the Tia Maria Pie and the tortilla chip spice mix. Thanks to Geanine’s charitable trust, her legacy will also endure in the cancer center’s kitchen.

“She was a natural cook,” says Dalene DeGeest, Geanine’s niece. “Food was her passion.” Geanine Bordogna

Geanine died of pancreatic cancer in 2017.

She’s remembered as a pioneering female entrepreneur who owned property developments, an assisted living facility and of course Tico’s, now owned by the trust.

“It was important to her to make the world a better place,” Dalene says of Geanine’s philanthropic focus. “She spent a lot of time in life thinking through what she wanted her legacy to be.”

Dr. Casey supports infusion pharmacy

For decades, Dr. John Casey has advocated for cancer care in Lincoln to be easier to navigate, less stressful to organize, and more centralized to encourage professional collaboration. “For patients coming from a small town, it’s almost impossible to coordinate all those appointments at various locations, and they’re going back and forth while not feeling Radiation oncology waiting areawell,” says Dr. Casey, a retired Lincoln pathologist.

For doctors and other providers, being immersed in cancer care every day alongside cancer-focused colleagues leads to increased expertise in an ever-changing field, he says. “I was overjoyed when Bryan announced that they were going to have a cancer center,” Dr. Casey adds. “This will be an enormous benefit for Lincoln and the surrounding areas.”

Bank’s generosity helps create staff lounge

Like Dr. Casey, First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) was eager to contribute to a center that will ease the burden for patients.

“The development team at Bryan did a really nice job of being patient, equipping us with information, describing the experience of people who are asked to drive all the way to Omaha and the strain that puts on families and patients,” says Nathan McKown, First National’s senior director of community banking and city ambassador for Lincoln.

“When our Chairman and President Clark Lauritzen talks about what the bank needs to be doing, he talks about the strength of communities and the role the bank plays in that,” Nathan says. “Helping people have options and services for

Dr. John Casey

Kaye Jesske of the Bryan Foundation (second from left) and Bryan Vice President of Advancement and Chief Development Officer Bob Ravenscroft accept a contribution from FNBO’s Nathan McKown (left), Doug Sutko (fourth from left), Jim Hoffmann and Mary Lou Lemonds.

cancer care makes for a stronger community.”

The staff lounge at the cancer center will be named in honor of FNBO’s gift.

Café

Café recognizes fraternities’ major pledge

Food trucks and cornhole tournaments are just a couple of the creative ways that fraternities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are raising money to support the cancer center’s café.

Shortly after Bryan announced plans for the center, Interfraternity Council leaders met to brainstorm how each of the 24 fraternities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln could contribute. Some chapters decided to host events, while others are gathering individual donations from members.

“Bryan’s development team provided the grace to be able to do it over the course of multiple semesters,” says Jon Gayer, UNL’s assistant director of fraternity life. The Council’s fundraising drive, which is its first-ever long-term philanthropic project, will wrap up in Spring 2023. n

Intrafraternity Council leaders meet Bryan facilities & construction director Don Sheets and cancer center director Susan Schreiner at the site of the future cancer center. VIDEO

To watch a video about the new April Sampson Cancer Center, go to bryanhealth.org/new-cancer-center. To find out how you can support the work of April Sampson Cancer Center, please call the Bryan Foundation staff at 402-481-8605.