When Giving Is a Family Value: Meet Francine

The holiday season is special for so many reasons. There is the time spent with family and friends, the warm meals shared, and the gifts passed—each picked with intention for the people we cherish. At CMMB, there is another reason why this season is so special. Each year, amid the hustle and bustle, we are overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters. It is our honor to have the opportunity to share some of their stories with gratitude and celebration.

Giving is a family affair for Francine and her siblings. Through the foundation they started together, they reach families in some of the world’s most challenging contexts with the resources to build a better life—access to quality healthcare among them.

But the spirit that fueled Francine and her sibling’s belief in giving back began well before their foundation took root over two decades ago.

Listening to Francine reminisce about her childhood feels like you are right there with her, sitting next to her dad at the kitchen table after a day of canvassing for a nonprofit or volunteering to help her mom water the flowers at church. Service and generosity were instilled in Francine and her siblings as young children. Today, they remain family values that Francine holds close to her heart.

“I think it is just a moral imperative to reach out to others,” said Francine.

With CMMB, Francine’s generosity extends all the way to Sudan, where the country’s severe lack of healthcare struck her.

“The resources in the U.S. don’t even begin to compare,” she said. “Everyone should have an opportunity for a good life.”

Sudan is just one of the places where Francine has shared a piece of her heart. She and her siblings follow where the need takes them.

“To alleviate suffering, we have to let others be our hands. We can’t do it on our own, but we can touch lives through organizations like this.”

The legacy that Francine and her siblings have built will continue on, still as a family commitment, when their children one day take the lead to guide the foundation’s impact.

“The need is so great, and it is really rewarding to be able to touch the lives of those who are forgotten,” she said.

“We are all on this earth at the same time. We just have to walk together.”