Kauffman legacy lives on with foundation

Aug. 11--Gaylord Kauffman spent much of his life trying to give back the community.

Kauffman owned and operated Grand Book and Bible in New Castle for 23 years before selling the business in 1995. In 2006, he founded an insurance agency with his three children -- Brian, Brad and Laurie -- which is now called BOST Benefits.

In February 2014, he was diagnosed with a blood disorder that led to leukemia. Despite successfully eradicating the disease, Kauffman struggled with loss of muscle mass and eventually contracted pneumonia. On April 12, 2017, he passed away.

Before his death, though, he asked that a foundation be set up in order to assist individuals and families with the out-of-pocket costs associated with blood disorders and cancer. The result of this planning led to the formation of the GK Care Foundation.

"He came up with this idea to help these local families that are going through similar scenarios," said Gaylord's son, Brian, who is a foundation board member. "He wanted to raise money and start a foundation so that when these come up, there's money for out-of-pocket expenses, things health insurance doesn't cover."

Brian went on to explain that after Gaylord's initial hospitalization in Pittsburgh, he went through weeks of rehab for six to eight hours a day. During this time, he and his wife, Judy, were forced to live in a Residence Inn rather than commute daily from New Castle.

"A lot of people don't think about the costs associated with these diseases that insurance doesn't cover," Brian said. "It gets expensive. No health insurance covers hotel bills and things like that. Subsequent trips in and out of the hospital, gas, parking, food -- all these expenses that insurance doesn't cover that people don't think about."

While in the hospital, Gaylord read about two local families who had children hospitalized due to illness. The stories further sparked his desire to set up the foundation.

"In reading the stories, knowing what a financial toll it take on families, especially families with other kids, he came up with the idea," Brian said. "When working in insurance he had a saying that 'before you care about your client more than your commission, you'll never be successful in the business.' All his life in the insurance business, the policies he sold were aimed at helping people."

The foundation is preparing to host its inaugural event Sep. 28 at the New Englander Banquet Center in Neshannock Township. It will feature a cocktail hour, dinner, a silent auction and a speech by Dr. John Lister, who is the director of the Western Pennsylvania Cancer Institute and Chief of the Division of Hematology and Cellular Therapy for the West Penn Allegheny Health System.

Joining Brian as a foundation board member is his brother, Brad, who feels that making an impact locally is an important step in giving back to the community that he grew up in.

"I grew up here with my father and his father," Brad said. "He's had a business in this town for many, many years. New Castle is our roots, it's his roots. These are people we see and interact with on a daily basis, so it's important for us to be able to affect these people positively."

He went on to note that his father's meticulous planning and strong network of friends and family has helped to make the process of creating the foundation easier than it would be otherwise.

"My father laid it out for us and we got to work right away," he said. "Fortunately he had quite a large network of people who loved him and who he has interacted with throughout the years, so there's a lot of hands in the pot. He laid out what he wanted to do, how he wanted to do it and who he wanted involved. So we were really just following the steps he had put in place."

One of those board members that Gaylord sought out was Lloyd Lamm, a long-time friend and banking executive in New Castle.

"I knew Gaylord for 25 or more years," Lamm said. "He was a man of incredible integrity and hard work and cared about people an awful lot. So when he asked me to a part of this I immediately accepted.

"It's been a tremendous honor to be apart of this," he continued. " There have been members of my family and close friends who have been touched by this disease. The thing about these kinds of diseases is it's a slow process and you often go through this for a significant period of time. The ability to make life a little bit easier for them, to help them go through these very difficult times, that's exciting to me to be a part of that."

Brian said the board members are hoping to have 200 to 250 attendees at the event and have already locked in a number of sponsors. Additional information on the foundation and its inaugural event can be found at GKCare.org.

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