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A Lasting Impact: The Greens’ IRA Gift Supports Future Paramedics

For long-time Medic One Foundation supporters Barbara and David Green, their lovely home in Bellevue’s Somerset neighborhood was both the beginning of retirement and the final stop after two decades of moving every few years. David’s Coast Guard career took them all over the country.

“We raised four kids; they were all born in different cities,” says Barbara. “We’re very fortunate that three of them live nearby. We also have 10 grandchildren.”

Whenever the family moved to a new posting, Barbara looked for friends, always joining a local Coast Guard wives’ club. As they all moved from one post to another, she’d often meet her friends again, and that happened in Bellevue. Myrna, a friend she’d first met in San Diego, introduced Barbara to Somerset Women for Medic One. It was a good fit.

“It was a social club,” she says, “and they were doing things like bake sales to raise funds for Medic One. But I’m a bridge player, so I suggested that we have some bridge tournaments, and we did. We’d do a couple a year.”

The tournaments started in Barbara’s living room, with just two tables, and everyone paid $25 to play. As more players joined in, they expanded to a community room in a nearby apartment complex, all to benefit Medic One.

Bellevue Fire Department paramedics and firefighters speak fondly of Somerset Women for Medic One, in the way they’d talk about their own mothers or grandmothers. In 2023, at the 50th anniversary celebration of Bellevue Medic One, the club was recognized for its support. The women returned that high regard.

“They came to our meetings and talked to us,” Barbara says. “And they told us that we should always call if we needed help.”

Barbara and David have called Bellevue Medic One a few times themselves. Once, Barbara had a hypertensive emergency; David had two falls and had to be lifted back up and examined. “When we called them, Medic One responded,” says Barbara.

COVID and an aging membership put an end to Somerset Women for Medic One, but Barbara and David continue their support for the Medic One Foundation.

“We do it because they’re such a complete asset to the community as a whole,” says Barbara. “The Medic One Foundation does so much and helps everybody; Medic One takes care of health for everybody.”

In 2023, Barbara and David made a significant gift to the Medic One Foundation, using a required distribution from their IRA. “All it took,” says Barbara, “was a phone call to our financial person. Very easy.”

As a former board member of the Medic One Foundation, Barbara has had a close-up look at how donations benefit the community she lives in.

“I felt privileged to meet all the doctors who were involved in it, and the firefighters, and paramedics. I met Dr. Leonard Cobb and Dr. Michael Copass, they were two wonderful men,” says Barbara. “Being on the Foundation board, I got to learn about the far-reaching effect that Medic One has had on the community and how important it is.”

Now in their early ‘90s, Barbara and David are doing very well, still enjoying their home, friends, and family. Her advice? “Go to the doctor regularly, and call Medic One when you need them.”