Cabrini Profiles – Sam Friedlander

Sam Friedlander at the 6th Annual CMF Gala and Awards with Sr. Bernadette Anello, MSC, and Governor and Mrs. Mario Cuomo.

Over the years, Sam Friedlander has become a good friend to Cabrini Mission Foundation. A retired accountant who has volunteered at many organizations in the New York area, Sam is also a regular visitor of the Foundation staff. Recently, Sam has generously provided the Foundation with several gift annuities. Sam has realized the value of this type of gift, both for the organization and for himself, and has made numerous gift annuity donations to New York area charities.

Sam grew up in the depression and remembers how people helped others during this difficult time. As a child, Sam was the beneficiary of such altruism. Sam’s parents were unable to pay for some of the extended healthcare services that he required when he contracted hepatitis at a young age. He ended up receiving the care for free and never forgot the kindness shown to him. To this day, Sam feels a need to return the generosity so that others can receive the same care without regard to financial considerations.

According to Sam, he first started giving to the Cabrini Medical Center because of the excellent work of Dr. Wallack. When Sam’s wife, Bertha, was in hospice at Beth Israel, Sr. Lucille Souza, MSC, showed him Cabrini Medical Center’s Hospice. Sam was impressed that there was an entire floor dedicated to it, and gave a gift to Cabrini’s Hospice so that it could soon achieve the same great reputation as Beth Israel.

Cabrini was honored to have Sam Friedlander become the first donor to kickoff its gift annuity program. Sam remains a great friend to the staff at both the Cabrini Medical Center and Cabrini Mission Foundation.