The ASTS Foundation now recognizes giving based on annual giving as well as lifetime giving. The two lifetime giving levels are: The President’s Club ($10,000+) and the Starzl Club ($25,000+). There are 22 members of the President’s Club, and 8 members of the Starzl Club!
Many of you know what the Society means to you, but what about the Foundation? Below are featured stories from our inaugural President's Club and Starzl Club members, so you can learn more about their perspectives and personal connection with the ASTS Foundation. We hope you will be inspired to join your colleagues and share your story too!
Ruby and Tom Peters are inaugural members of the ASTS Foundation Presidents’ Club and also the first to donate appreciated stock rather than cash. Tom is the ASTS Historian and represents ASTS to the American Medical Association. Recently, Ruby and Tom discussed their commitment to the ASTS Foundation with Maggie Kebler-Bullock, ASTS Grants Manager. In this issue of the Chimera, we are pleased to share Tom and Ruby’s story. 
We had contributed before, and did not know of the Presidents’ Club when we discussed inclusion of the Foundation in our annual assessment of gifting. We tithe, and there was an opportunity to consider a special gift—that of appreciated stock. We called the ASTS Foundation staff and learned that appreciated stock had not previously been in the Foundation portfolio. So this was not only a great opportunity for us to contribute, but also a way to help shepherd the Foundation in exploring a new way to grow its net worth by accepting gifts in alternative ways.
While transplantation surgery is a solidly established specialty, there are not—and likely never will be—vast numbers of transplant surgeons. So, we probably will remain one of the smaller surgical disciplines for a host of reasons. Therefore, we need a strong and vigorous ASTS to represent us to our government, the larger medical community, national organizations such as the American College of Surgeons and the American Medical Association, and to those entities which pose either an opportunity or a threat. A strong ASTS Foundation will permit the ASTS to do the tasks needed to ensure organizational success necessary for our patients and our surgical specialty.
We believe all ASTS members should join us in supporting the ASTS Foundation. The ASTS has filled a special niche in our lives with friends, colleagues, great science, and loads of fun. Without the ASTS and the Foundation, our professional and personal lives would not be as full and gratifying as they have been. We know how the ASTS has enriched Tom’s professional life, and we both have made life-long friends with ASTS members and their families. A strong ASTS Foundation ensures the long-term viability of the ASTS itself.