By Texie Camp Marks

As anyone who has ever been to the doctor knows, medical care can be expensive — and providing that care is no less expensive.

Western Tidewater Free Clinic’s mission is to provide high-quality, non-emergency health care to residents of Western Tidewater who cannot otherwise afford it.

As a donor–dependent facility, the clinic’s budget for 2013 is nearly $1.5 million. WTFC partners with many groups, such as foundations, healthcare organizations and volunteers, which allows the leveraging of every single dollar raised to provide more than $6 in care.

The majority of our donors, however, are individuals. One such individual has made an incredibly generous offer of a $50,000 challenge gift. This is not just a gift; it is a great opportunity for the clinic to cultivate new donors who want to help our neighbors who are without health insurance and sufficient funds to visit a doctor.

The challenge gift is a dollar-for-dollar match for 2013 donations received from new donors (individuals, businesses or small family foundations or trusts that have never donated to the clinic.)

This tremendous opportunity has allowed the clinic to focus much of 2013 on bringing awareness to folks who are philanthropic at heart but have not previously supported the clinic and its patients.

The need to expand our donor base cannot be overstated. The clinic currently has a waiting list of more than 300 people. While we continue to accept 45 new patients each month, our capacity to grow is limited by current resources.

To date, the clinic has raised $30,281 toward the $50,000 challenge. We hope new donors will be willing to help us reach our goal by sending donations to “2013 Matching Gift Campaign” at Western Tidewater Free Clinic, 2019 Meade Parkway, Suffolk, VA 23434.

Texie Camp Marks is director of development at Western Tidewater Free Clinic. She can be reached at 923-1060, extension 7025 or by email at tmarks@wtfreeclinic.org.