Unstoppable

Planning to Give

By Ann Carney | USF News

Mohan and Diana Rao could never imagine a life without public radio. So when funding cuts threatened programming at WUSF in 2007, the Carrollwood couple, longtime supporters of the station, made a planned gift to benefit WUSF Public Media.

“I wanted to be sure we had public radio, and I wanted it to expand,” Diana says.

“If you want to continue to have a say in the matter, you have to put your money where your mouth is,” adds Mohan, a respected neonatologist who has practiced in Tampa for more than 25 years.

In 2009, the couple made a second major gift to the university, this time in concert with Diana’s late mother, Margarita Lewita. The gift established a medical student scholarship fund at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

The medical school was an ideal fit, say Diana and Mohan, whose daughter, Sumeeta “Sumi” Mazzarolo, earned her medical degree from USF in 2004.

“My mother had given Sumi her first year in medical school as a gift. I thought that was so wonderful; I wanted to carry it on,” Diana recalls. “I spoke with her and said, ‘Our kids are so blessed. Maybe we can do the same thing for another child who doesn’t have someone to step in.’”

Planned gifts play an important role in the USF: Unstoppable campaign. These gifts, which can include bequests, charitable gift annuities, trusts, retirement accounts and insurance policies, comprise about 15 percent of all gifts received by the campaign to date.

“Most people have the opportunity to make a planned gift — to leave a lasting legacy,” says Marion Yongue, director of gift planning at USF. “If you care about anybody or anything, this is one way to communicate that.”

For Diana and Mohan, whose son, Jayant, is also a physician, planned giving is something everyone should consider.

“It does nothing to change your lifestyle and it gives you that wonderful feeling that you are teaching a lesson to your children and grandchildren,” Diana says. “I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to take advantage of it unless they have other major financial obligations.”

According to Yongue, the biggest misconception about planned giving is “thinking I am not wealthy enough to talk about planned giving.”

“So many of us have a variety of assets that can be used, such as insurance policies and retirement plans. And there can be significant tax benefits, even if you don’t have a huge estate.”

Mohan, who was schooled in India and met Diana, a registered nurse, now retired, in New York City during his residency, says it’s not about giving, it’s about something you naturally owe.

“If you like a program, you have to sustain it,” he says.

It’s a message they’ve passed along to their two children and two grandchildren by example. “We hope we have inculcated the right spirit. We have always pointed out how blessed we have been.”

Among their grandchildren’s gifts this past Christmas was a donation to Big Cat Rescue to give a chosen tiger a better enclosure and treats. For more than six years, Diana has volunteered with Big Cat Rescue, a sanctuary devoted to providing the best home for exotic cats, many who have been abandoned or abused by their owners, while educating the public on the plight of these animals. Diana and Mohan’s support additionally includes the Center for Great Apes, the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Kiva, the March of Dimes, the Hillsborough Literacy Council and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Outside of their professional and volunteer commitments, the philanthropic couple are avid skiers, bikers and world travelers.

“I don’t think there is a continent we haven’t visited,” Mohan says, adding that Africa is a favorite. “Bhutan is next.”