Dr. N. Donald Diebel, Jr. was killed tragically on June 8, 2002, when he stopped as a Good Samaritan to help at an accident scene on the Florida Turnpike. For those who knew Don, this selfless act to aid others in need comes as no surprise, and our commitment in establishing this fund is to make sure the spirit in which Don gave his life will not die when he did.
The N. Donald Diebel, Jr. M.D. Good Samaritan Fund was established in an effort to carry on Don’s life long desire to help others in need. Through the efforts of Dr. Diebel’s family, friends, the local medical community, the Notre Dame Club of Greater Orlando, and others who admire the spirit in which Don lived and died, this fund now benefits causes that are certain to carry on Don’s legacy.
The first cause supported by the fund was a “Bricks and Mortar” drive to dedicate a room in N. Donald Diebel, Jr., M.D.’s honor at the new Ronald McDonald house built outside of Orlando Regional Medical Center and Arnold Palmer Hospital for Women and Children. This fundraising effort was matched dollar for dollar by the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation.
The N. Donald Diebel, Jr. M.D. Good Samaritan Fund continues to raise and distribute money to act as a Good Samaritan on a very personal level for those in need in our community. Examples of those acts of Samaritanism include paying the fees to allow a child to participate in Little League or the Girl Scouts or helping a family in need by paying for car repairs.
Two other important and meaningful projects of the Fund are a joint project with Shepherd’s Hope and the partnership with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine to establish the KNIGHTS Clinic. The project with Shepherd’s Hope helped establish what was then the eighth clinic in the Shepherd’s Hope organization, the “Dr. Diebel, Jr. Clinic”. Shepherd’s Hope serves the medical needs of the uninsured population and facilitates their specialty care needs as well. The Diebel clinic is positioned on the east side of Orlando and plays a very active role today.
The development of the KNIGHTS Clinic has been a major success in again helping to bring needed medical care to those in need and to help train the doctors of tomorrow. The clinic is run by the medical students with supervision and enables the students the opportunity to see how medicine is practiced in an office setting and on a more personal level. Because they are seeing a population of patients that may not have had the benefit of regular medical care, they can see the effects of that lack of care, both physical and psychological, and how to correct it.
The Diebel Fund has also been active in funding smaller scale projects within the community. As a supporting organization of the Central Florida Foundation, the Diebel Legacy Fund has an advisory board that is able to solicit contributions on behalf of the Fund and make recommendations on the best use of the Fund’s assets to continue the good Samaritan acts inspired by the life and death of Dr. Donald Diebel, Jr.
Clinic Director 2019-2020 Katie Porter, Dr. Pasarica, and the Diebels during the annual Year in Review Diebel Luncheon
As a small token of our appreciation to the generosity of the Diebel Legacy Fund at the Central Florida Foundation, we presented Dr. Diebel with framed and signed photos of the KNIGHTS Clinic board members with messages expressing the impact that KNIGHTS Clinic has had on our journies in becoming physicians.
Central Florida Foundation
The Central Florida Foundation has worked with over 400 individuals, families, businesses, professional advisors and nonprofits since 1994 to build and sustain philanthropy in Central Florida. It connects donors to causes, charitable organizations, and community issues that they are passionate about, manages and invests funds, and empowers donors to make smarter giving decisions that create greater impact in the community now and in the future.