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Genie Tanksley – Giving from the Heart 

Genie Tanksley, an analyst in the Financial Planning Decision Support Department, co-chairs Palomar Health Foundation’s Employee Capital Campaign Steering Committee. That’s a long title that means she’s one of the biggest cheerleaders and largest contributors in the effort to get every staff member contributing to the i care. i give. campaign.

So far, her efforts are working. Roughly 70 percent – about seven of every 10 employees – have either made a gift or have pledged donations to the campaign.

“I want employees to understand that if we reach out to the community, we are showing that we do care,” she said. “How can we ask the pubic to contribute if we’re not giving ourselves? All of us, we’re here in our homes and our communities, because of the jobs we have today, because we’re a part of Palomar Health.”

Tanksley first got involved in supporting Palomar Health during the campaign to pass Proposition BB, the bond measure to finance the new hospital. At the time, she had just undergone knee surgery but she carried her lawn chair and her crutches out to a busy corner in Escondido and waved signs in support of the initiative. 

Today, a big part of her effort is centered on educating other staff members about the different ways they can contribute.

“It’s simple, once they know how easy it is to get started, either by making a one-time or ongoing payroll deduction or designating PTO (paid time off) to the campaign,” she said.  Tanksley herself began by giving $5 from each paycheck. Then, she gradually increased her giving amount and set a personal goal of a $5,000 contribution.

In June 2011, during the Night of Nights gala, she and her husband pledged $25,000. Soon the couple will choose an area in the new hospital that will recognize their gift. She thinks their recognition may be in the Emergency Department, but she says, that’s a decision they will make together, just as they made the decision jointly to increase their gift.

Tanksley said her personal commitment to the campaign is just as fulfilling as seeing the employees collectively work together toward their new $3 million campaign goal. Earlier goals of $1 million and $2 million have already been reached and she believes that the additional funds to meet the new goal will undoubtedly be raised.

“Yes, it’s going to mean an ongoing effort, and that means we need to get all our new and existing employees involved,” she explained. “But we’ve done so well; why not get to the next goal – and the one after that?”

To support the employee capital campaign, visit www.pphfoundation.org/employeegiving.