Donor Story - Mike and Alice Volechenisky

Mike Volechenisky has always been fascinated with science. In fact, when Mike and his wife Alice recently decided to contribute $1 million to charity by setting up charitable gift annuities, they chose Scripps Research as the major beneficiary — $690,000 will be used for biomedical research at the Institute, with Bucknell University, Alice's alma mater, receiving the remaining $310,000 — to be used for scientific research and scholarships.

Asked why they decided to direct a large portion of their philanthropy to Scripps Research, Mike replied, "I'm a great reader of scientific literature and have come across the Institute a number of times. I believe that Scripps' outstanding researchers and scholars have contributed many seminal discoveries and will continue their superior efforts in their chosen fields. There are always new things to discover and we hope our gift will help — you can take one peel off the onion, but there's more to follow."

Through the charitable gift annuity to Scripps Research, the Volechenisky's have irrevocably transferred assets to the Institute. In return, the Institute makes fixed annual payments to them for life. The Volechenisky's were also able to take an immediate charitable deduction for a portion of the gift's value.

"Our gift annuity eliminates my concerns about constant investment decisions, the state of the economy, and other considerations," said Mike. "The endowment assets are professionally managed in accordance with prudent investor rules."

"It allows us to make a lasting contribution to science, while still providing a safety net of income for us should we need it," said Mike. "We can use the funds in our retirement years. The return on the charitable gift annuity is good, and it's not subject to economic downturns like bonds — it's backed by a big endowment and income from the endowment should see us through and keep us comfortable."

Finishing service in the Army Air Corps as a pilot of B–24 and B–17 bombers during 30 missions over Europe in World War II, Mike chose to conquer the financial world. He spent almost two years in New York working on the New York Stock Exchange when the daily volume was between 500 and 700 thousand shares per day. He then decided to return to his home town and went to work for the F.I. DuPont Company's Elmira, New York office, where he worked for 21 years.

Mike is an accomplished woodworker - much of the Volechenisky home is furnished with his beautiful work. Mike builds mostly mahogany reproductions of classical designs, with Chippendale a favorite. Mike and Alice have been married for over 55 years. Alice, a retired school teacher, enjoys cross stitching amongst a variety of other interests. Mike and Alice have traveled to the Soviet Union, Argentina, Uruguay, Paris and all over the world — preferring the first-hand experience to merely reading about exotic locales.

Their gift is helping assure service to humanity through scientific discovery, contributing to a horizon beyond our scope of imagination.