Ober Tyus
Development Director

Celebrate! Celebrate!

The $100,000 Challenge Gift made in Fall 1998 has been met and exceeded thanks to the response of more than 3,000 donors. A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania industrialist and retired business owner made the challenge in an effort to encourage existing supporters to increase their donations and to re-enlist donors who had not made a gift in recent years. BOTH of his goals were achieved, thanks to the Challenge. More than 1,000 previous donors returned to active support during the Challenge, which raised over $130,000.

Do it again! Do it again!

The Institute’s Pittsburgh friend who provided the Fall '98 Challenge is pleased enough with the result to suggest we try it again this Fall with a little help from some other friends. The donor is willing to provide $25,000 in new Challenge funds if three or seven other donors will contribute a similar amount above their traditional giving, creating either a $100,000 or a $200,000 Challenge/Matching Gift. If you are in a financial position to help with the new match, please contact the Development Office (541-737-4044).

Well, we certainly agree with that approach

A donor to the Institute sends her gift annually through the Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas. A quote on their letterhead caught our attention, and we’d like to share it with you. From the Talmud, "I did not find the world desolate when I entered it and as my fathers planted for me before I was born, so do I plant for those who will come after me."

Dorothy Epstein

Linus Pauling's broad interests attract supporters from many fields of endeavor

We are grateful to learn that many friends and supporters identify themselves as having been introduced to the Institute not only through their special interest in vitamins and micronutrients, but through other avenues as well, often unrelated to nutrition. An example is Dorothy Epstein, a senior citizen activist in New York City who first met Dr. Pauling through his peace work. "Linus Pauling won my admiration many years ago, even before I knew of his exciting work with vitamin C. He spoke out boldly and courageously on all the issues in which I was involved," she said. "I first met Dr. Pauling in the late 1940s, when he spoke so eloquently for peace during an address he made before the anti-nuclear group I belonged to. He inspired us all with his dedication, clarity and knowledge." Epstein earned a teacher’s license after graduating from Hunter College in New York in the early 1930s, but following a grilling during her interview for the license -- based on the labor activism of her parents -- she was disenchanted with a system that did not support active involvement in political issues. Instead, she went to work for the New York Emergency Relief Bureau as a social worker for $27.50 per week. Not long after, she found herself involved in organizing co-workers into a new union, the Association of Workers in Public Relief Agencies. The union was the predecessor of today’s gigantic American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Epstein is the sponsor of a Charitable Lead Trust that is making annual gifts to the Linus Pauling Institute, Amnesty International, The Children’s Defense Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the principal gift, which is funding a Chair in Latin American Studies at her alma mater. In 1972, Mrs. Epstein helped form a natural vitamin manufacturing business in New Jersey. She served the company, Synergy Plus, as President. In 1978, Synergy Plus made the decision to support Dr. Pauling and his work on vitamin C. "To celebrate National Health Month ..., our Executive Board has voted to contribute $2,500 to the Linus Pauling Institute of Science & Medicine. This decision was reached because of the excellent research work done by Dr. Pauling and his associates in the utilization of vitamin C for the treatment of innumerable diseases," said the corporate letter accompanying the gift. Not only did the company make a gift that year and for many years following, but the company also encouraged, successfully, their retail customers to support Dr. Pauling’s research. Mrs. Epstein met the Institute through Dr. Pauling’s peace work. Many others have had the same experience. Still others have come to know the Institute through Dr. Pauling’s lectures on a variety of subjects all over the world. Whatever the means, the recruitment of friends and supporters to the cause of nutrition research has been the lifeblood of this Institute’s work since 1973. Dorothy Epstein is but one of thousands of fascinating individuals who have chosen to be involved with our work. We thank her ... and them!

Last updated May, 1999

Please send any comments, suggestions, or questions about The Linus Pauling Institute to lpi@oregonstate.edu