By Kyle LoJacono
Lutz residents Carol and Frank Morsani continued their routine of making contributions to make the Tampa Bay area a better place with a $20 million gift to the University of South Florida (USF).
The huge donation is the largest in the university’s history and will go toward building a new medical school that will bear the couple’s name.
“I don’t think our community as a whole recognizes the impact that this institution has on our region, state and nation,” Frank said.
Frank, 80, said he and his wife earned their money through car dealerships and have spent the last two decades using that success to better the region.
“We just love the whole Tampa Bay area and want to make it a better place for everyone,” Carol said.
It is the second large gift the Morsanis have made to the university following a $17 million contribution in 2004 to help fund health innovations at USF Health.
Frank said he hopes the latest donation will get the rest of the community into the “giving spirit” and help the school raise the $60 million needed to complete the new facility. The construction is set to begin in late 2012.
USF College of Medicine Dean Stephen Klasko said the goal of the new medical school is to train new doctors with the latest techniques and equipment.
“We’re going to have students learning from patients and patients learning from students,” Klasko said.
Frank said he doesn’t want people to think any more of his family because they have the ability to make such donations.
“We’re just doing what we’re supposed to do on a daily basis,” Frank said. “We don’t feel we’re doing anything special. That’s not the piece of cloth we’re cut from.”
The Morsanis have lived in Lutz for more than 20 years and have, as Frank said, done such things on “a daily basis.” Their first big gift came in 1996 when they contributed $5 million to the Straz Center. Because of the donation, the center renamed its large theater the Carol Morsani Hall.
The couple has also given large amounts of money to Gulfside Regional Hospice in Dade City.
“Those people with the hospice are great and give needed support to families struggling with their health,” Carol said. “They are nonprofits, so they can use all the help they can get.”
Frank encourages others to give whatever they can to any worthy cause they find in their community.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re donating $10 or $10 million,” Frank said. “It’s the act of supporting your community that’s meaningful and priceless.”
