Fundraising with Heart

By Houston History Magazine on November 21, 2021 in Arts & Culture, Business and Industry, Communities, Health and Medicine, Houstonians

By Grace Conroy

Over 300 people attended the Art with Heart event in 2018, which raised $215,000 from the sale of artwork, some of which is shown here.
Photo courtesy of the San José Clinic.

People have come together to discuss important ideas and shared interests since the ancient Greeks and Romans. While these original assemblies centered around politics, the modern assembly might call for deliberation, entertainment, education, or worship. When considering ideas for fundraisers, the San José Clinic’s leadership understood that creating an open environment for conversation about the clinic would attract donors and potential volunteers. They hoped to design events that would draw Houstonians to the San José Clinic through shared interests and then introduce them to the clinic and its mission.

Larry Massey, founder of Art with Heart, at left, joins advisory board member John Hernandez at the charity event. Massey received the Portrait of Compassion award in 2017. Photo courtesy of the San José Clinic.

The idea for Art with Heart came about one afternoon in 2006 during a lunch date between two friends. Barb Holman, a San José Clinic board member, knew that the clinic needed to place a stronger focus on fundraising. Holman quickly thought of her friend Larry Massey, a devout Catholic with almost forty years of banking experience, as someone who could help the clinic conceive new, innovative approaches to fundraising. Massey always knew he wanted to leave the world a better place than he found it, but he was a busy man, and Holman had difficulty convincing him to visit the clinic. She eventually succeeded and Massey, after viewing the facility and learning about the organization’s purpose, did indeed introduce an idea.

Philip Morabito specializes in public relations, public affairs, investor relations, and marketing – skills that served him well as a member of the clinic’s board of directors and inspired his idea for the annual Fall Speaker Series.

Another clinic board member, Philip Morabito, loved the notion of Art with Heart and wished to create an annual fall fundraiser to bring further awareness to the clinic. Morabito believes people should only participate on charity boards if they genuinely plan on making a difference by devoting their time, resources, and talents. When he joined the board of the San José Clinic, he resolved to do just that.

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