COSTA MESA : $103,000 Trust Will Aid Cancer Center

A Costa Mesa woman has established a $103,000 trust to help underwrite research and treatment at UC Irvine’s Clinical Cancer Center.

The gift, by retired businesswoman Theresa Phillips, was one of the larger donations ever made to UCI to fight cancer, center development director Shirley Lorenz said. As is common with such a trust, money from Phillips’ estate will not be available to the university until her death.

Phillips was not available for comment, but Lorenz said she made the donation “because she has been touched by cancer--through several family members, and several friends she lost as well. She felt strongly about trying to do something.”

Once a secretary to the president of Purdue University, Phillips retired recently after working for years as a partner in Phillips Marine in Newport Beach.

She learned about the benefits of charitable trusts after attending a workshop at the UCI College of Medicine last February, university officials said. Trusts, bequests, annuities and other financial instruments known as “deferred gifts” account for more than $1 million annually in private support to the university and are usually tax deductible.

Cancer center director Dr. Frank Meyskens called Phillips’ gift extremely helpful. “Though the funds are not immediately available, they contribute to the center’s long-term stability and ultimately will enhance our combined research and treatment programs,” he said.