Standouts

UAB Supporters Alie B. Gorrie and Jane Comer Recognized at National Philanthropy Day

Alie B. Gorrie	Jane Comer

On National Philanthropy Day, November 12, 2009, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Alabama Chapter recognized two UAB donors: Alie B. Gorrie and Jane Comer.

Alie B. Gorrie, a 17-year-old who will be a senior this fall at Mountain Brook High School, was honored as a Volunteer in Philanthropy. She was the founder of Songs for Sight, a musical/educational concert that was held in 2009 at the Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center (ASC). The event raised more than $400,000 for the UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation, a collaborative center of UAB’s Department of Ophthalmology and School of Optometry, and research efforts in the UAB Optic Nerve Imaging Center. A second Songs for Sight is planned for 2011.

Gorrie has been a patient of the Department of Ophthalmology since birth, when she was diagnosed with a congenital eye condition. She has held numerous leadership and service positions at Mountain Brook Junior High School and Mountain Brook High School. She also has volunteered at Hand-in-Paw as gala entertainment hostess and is training to be a caregiver with her dog. She is the daughter of Alison and Jim Gorrie.

This year’s William M. and Virginia B. Spencer Outstanding Philanthropist is Jane Stephens Comer. As the first woman in Alabama to donate $1 million to the national Women Moving Millions Campaign, Comer’s generosity led to gifts of more than $175 million worldwide to women’s funds, including The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham. A founding board member of The Women’s Fund and a member of the Founder’s Circle of donors who started The Women’s Fund endowment, she has been a supporter of UAB for many years, particularly through her patronage of the arts. Her most recent gift of $5 million created a cultural-arts education program for area children through the ASC.

Maintaining the Momentum / Summer 2010