Rebecca Nelson
Rebecca Nelson has an extensive record of serving the Baton Rouge community, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare.
In addition to serving the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation Board of Directors, she is a member of the Joint Development Committee, a committee composed of Cancer Center Foundation board members, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center board members, and at large members focused on fund development and implementation. She also serves on the Joint Development Committee’s Corporate Engagement/Events Task Force focused on fund development strategy and donor relations. She has also been instrumental in the success of signature events through serving on the Gala Host Committee and past event planning committees.
In addition to her extensive service to Mary Bird Perkins, she also volunteers for other organizations, including Knock Knock Children’s Museum, where she sits on the executive committee and serves as a board member.
Her dedication to service originated from her parents, who were active in their community. Her mother was the consummate volunteer, she says, actively volunteering with organizations, such as the Junior League of Baton Rouge, throughout her childhood.
She originally became involved in Mary Bird Perkins’ work through event planning and fundraising. From there,her service quickly evolved to focus on supporting strategic growth for the organization to further its critical mission and its impact on the community.
She is married to her husband, Dyke, and is the proud mother of three beautiful children. In her free time, she enjoys engaging in a range of creative pursuits.
My Mary Bird Perkins Story
What makes Mary Bird Perkins the leading cancer care organization?
Mary Bird Perkins offers world-class care right here in our community run entirely by a local organization with amazing leadership and a devotion to serving the needs of our community and our patients.
Why do you support Mary Bird Perkins?
Not only does 100% of the money donated to Mary Bird Perkins stay in our community, but the Cancer Center leadership are exceptional stewards of those funds and ensure they are used to directly support patient care, invest in innovative new treatments and technology, and offer a world-class education to those in medical physics and other disciplines.
Why is a gift to the endowment so important?
Endowments inherently look to the future. For cancer, that’s critical because the future is where we’ll find a cure.
Your gift can make a tremendous impact. Even for younger individuals focused on paying for their children’s college tuition and providing for their future, we have a unique opportunity to give a significant gift by purchasing a life insurance policy and naming Mary Bird Perkins the beneficiary.
By purchasing these policies at a younger age, it can be an incredibly cost-effective way to leverage your dollars to create an even larger impact by providing an investment in the future of cancer care that will pay off for generations to come.
If someone asked you why he/she should make a gift to Mary Bird Perkins, what would you say?
Cancer affects everybody. It’s not an exclusive club. And because it’s a local organization, I know how the Cancer Center operates and where my support goes. That’s important to me.
What is your vision for Mary Bird Perkins and how do you think philanthropy can drive that vision?
My hope is that one day we’ll be focused on administering the vaccine or the cure for cancer. In cancer care, the goal should always be finding a cure. But by remaining on the leading edge of care, we can improve survivorship and lessen the burden of care for those facing a diagnosis today.
The only way to do that is through philanthropy. Private donations are essential to investing in research. Insurance reimbursements simply don’t cover research and innovation. We need private donations to move the needle on cancer survivorship.
What motivated you to accept the invitation to serve on the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation Board of Directors?
It’s very important to me to put my time and service to good use, and I know that serving on the Board is one of the best ways I can make a difference.