Bert W. Martin Foundation Continues Support with Gift to the Burn Center
The Bert W. Martin Foundation recently gave a $500,000 gift to the Burn Center at Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) continuing their long-time support of ORMC, and Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
Bert W. Martin was born in Chicago on October 12, 1897. An industrialist, philanthropist and visionary, Bert started a successful printing and packaging company in Ohio. His interest in healthcare was accentuated by his ownership of the Bert W. Martin Memorial Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.
In 1948 Bert started the foundation to provide services to those in need in his community. As the chair of the foundation for many years, Bert’s daughter Wynee Warden continued the family support of healthcare upon her move to Central Florida.
After building a friendship with Arnold Palmer, Wynee and the family foundation – along with her sons Andy, Chandler, and the late Bert Warden – joined with Arnold Palmer Hospital on several initiatives benefitting emergency room and trauma care, pediatric sports medicine, heart care and cancer research. This support included the funds used to build the Playworks Playground, the family’s first donation to the hospital, and Bert Martin’s Champions for Children Emergency Department & Trauma Center.
The Bert W. Martin Foundation has routinely committed to funding projects that require long-term support. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the foundation supported the annual Champions for Children Golf Tournament. In 1998, the Bert W. Martin Foundation became the bridge between the Golden South Classic, a premier track and field competition, and Arnold Palmer Hospital as the charitable beneficiary for nearly twenty years.
Today, in addition to continued philanthropic support from the family’s foundation, Andy Warden serves on the Board of Directors of the Orlando Health Foundation.
GIFT TO ORMC’S BURN CENTER
The family’s connection to the Burn Center started in an unexpected and unfortunate way when Andy’s daughter Kala experienced serious burns after her blouse caught on fire while she was cooking. Kala was living in Washington, DC at the time and was treated in the area, but through the experience, her family learned first-hand the importance of having access to a Burn Center verified by the American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons.
