The “big reveal” of Vision 2020 on July 15 was truly a worldwide event. In addition to more than 2,000 guests on the campus lawn to hear the announcement of this monumental plan for the future, viewers in all 50 states and many nations around the world watched the event online and on satellite TV through various carriers.
The news about Vision 2020 is continuing to spread. The pledge of Dennis and Carol Troesh to give $100 million toward building a new Children’s Hospital tower, and the launch of a $350 philanthropic endeavor culminating in the year 2020, has been well received by the public in Southern California, the health care and philanthropic communities nationwide, Seventh-day Adventist Church members around the world, and many others.
People are talking all about it, if the early August ASI convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was any indication. Jim Ponder, a writer in Loma Linda University Health’s public relations office, staffed an LLUH booth at the annual event.
Vision 2020 was the buzz of many people he met and talked to. He says, “Of the hundreds of people who visited our exhibit, many had watched the event online and many more had read and heard news of the announcement.
“They were uniformly excited about it,” he concludes.
This month, Richard L. Hart, MD, DrPH, president of Loma Linda University Health, and other administrators are embarking on the first of many events around the United States, carrying the Vision 2020 message to friends of the organization as well as potential donors. The first such gatherings will take place in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon, on the same day—August 24.
Rachelle Bussell, senior vice president of Advancement at LLUH, announced at the July 15 event that $149 million of the $350 was already in hand or committed to the campaign. Since then, she says millions of more dollars are under discussion from donors, and she hopes to receive confirmation of those commitments in the coming months.
The LLUH social media team has supported the effort to encourage employees and others to post messages on Vision 2020 on Facebook and Twitter. A campaign on Instagram resulted in 150 employees posting selfies with Vision 2020 messages.
Keep the news going. #V2020