History of the Hutch Fund

A few years ago the idea of establishing a charitable fund for the benefit of SAAR members emerged after Richard A. Hutchinson, a longtime SAAR member and dedicated volunteer, died on May 7, 2001, after incurring huge medical expenses beyond his insurance coverage protection.  In recognition of his 27+ years of devotion and service to the Association, Mr. Hutchinson’s untimely death led the SAAR Board of Directors to appoint a task force to investigate the idea of creating such a fund and to name it in honor of “Hutch”.  The task force studied various relief fund models, with the goal of establishing a fund dedicated to the purpose of providing assistance to SAAR members whose financial resources may be depleted by catastrophic medical expenses, major emergency relief measures, or long term care needs.  After the Hutch Fund Task Force reported its findings, the SAAR Board of Directors voted to formalize the concept.  The structure of the committee to administer the Fund was included in the Hutch Fund Task Force report.

 

One task force recommendation for ongoing funding of the Hutch Fund was to provide an opportunity for members to make a voluntary tax deductible contribution to the Fund when renewing their annual SAAR membership.  Appropriate information regarding the function of the Hutch Fund would accompany the appeal to contribute.  Contributions would be credited to a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization as described in section 501 (c) (3) of the IRS Code, and in accordance with IRS regulations, no goods or services would be provided to the donor by SAAR as part of the donor’s contribution.

 

Another task force recommendation for ongoing funding of the Hutch Fund was to have an annual fundraising event, carefully planned and manned by SAAR member volunteers.  Certainly, the primary purpose of the event would be to raise money for the Hutch Fund, but another important objective would be to be to provide a reason and a venue for SAAR members to get together, thereby promoting camaraderie and cohesiveness as an Association.  In considering various kinds of events, it was decided that whatever the event turned out to be, it would have to be a dramatic attention grabber, a major attraction to create interest, excitement, participation, and most importantly—support!

 

Enter STAAR Night!