Annual Luncheon

H. Todd Bullard, Esq.

As a teenager, Todd was fascinated by the televised Watergate hearings and presidential impeachment process against Richard Nixon and the elected leaders intent on adhering to our democratic ideals. That helped convince him to become an attorney — and later a Monroe County legislator — to serve his community.

That service also included offering his expertise on boards. Todd joined the Community Foundation board in 1995, and looking back says that is when he learned how to be an effective board member and fully appreciate the positive benefits and impact of philanthropy. He and his wife, Darnella, turned to the Foundation in 2003 to establish the Leah Lillian Louise Bullard Memorial Fund, named for a daughter who passed away as an infant.

Making connections is another way that Todd contributes to the community. A little more than 10 years ago, he encouraged his client — Rural Metro Ambulance — to support the African American Giving Initiative’s effort to publish the State of Black Rochester book in 2013. The 10-year update of that book’s findings will be released in a multimedia format.

Drs. Krishan and Jaimala Thanik

For Krishan and Jaimala, giving back was what they did every day in their medical practices — he as a gastroenterologist and she as an anesthesiologist. They worked long days — 12 to 14 hours — to ensure that their patients got the best possible care.

But Jaimala observed how often patients who experienced pain were told there was nothing else that could be done. She decided to learn more about the country’s four pain management clinics by spending several months away from home to see for herself how those sites operated and understand best practices. Once back in Rochester, Jaimala began offering pain evaluation and treatment to patients and later helped establish the area’s first pain management clinic and convince health insurance companies to cover the related procedures.

Throughout their careers, the Thaniks were committed to supporting the hospitals where they worked and helping the greater community through donations. They also were instrumental in the creation of the India Community Center and financially backing the effort to open this gathering space for local individuals and families from India.

Their relationship with the Community Foundation began in 1996, beginning with contributions to the annual campaign. They later created three different funds to support their personal charitable giving and the community and its residents in the future. Krishan joined the Foundation’s board of directors in 2015 and served on several committees through 2021.

Donald S. Hall, Joe U. Posner Founders Award Recipent

Don can certainly say he had a stellar career under the stars — but indoors and at planetariums. He even had the unique opportunity to train NASA astronauts to recognize 54 specific stars that could be guides to keep the spacecraft oriented in case navigation equipment failed.

Don has many quirky things he’s passionate about — from hamburgers, zinc grave markers, and architecture to Tiffany glass, the mansions along East Avenue, and organs to name a few.

Through extensive research, this Ohio native transformed his fascination with these topics into 19 talks that he’s given hundreds of times locally and across the country. He deposited speaking fees from each presentation, along with contributions from investments and sales of his various collections, into the Donald S. Hall Fund at the Community Foundation. One day, proceeds from his estate will be the final gift to the fund, which will carry on his legacy and love for history, historic buildings and artifacts.

Don has been asked many times what he would have been if he hadn’t been in the planetarium field. A philanthropist, he always replied. “That was a joke at the time, but now I am one,” he said.