Above: Rancho Guadalupe leadership James Wesner, Dick Donati, and AJ Cisney stand for a photo to commemorate the company’s transofrmational gift in support of Marian’s Emergency Services Expansion Project.
Community Catalysts
Rancho Guadalupe continues the Donati family's legacy of leadership with Emergency Department Expansion Gift
Every donation has a story. For Rancho Guadalupe, their story of legendary support for Marian Regional Medical Center is one that spans three generations.
Rancho Guadalupe’s unprecedented leadership gift commitment of $500,000 in support of Marian’s Emergency Services Expansion Project is the continuance of the Donati family’s legacy of generosity that began more than 75 years ago. It was 1939 when Louis (L.C.) Donati and other community leaders from throughout the Santa Maria Valley united together to raise $50,000 for the building of Santa Maria’s very first hospital: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Marian’s predecessor.
Louis Donati was one of 100 community leaders who spearheaded the capital campaign to secure crucial funding for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Hospital. At the time, raising $50,000 for the funding of a $130,000 hospital was a huge undertaking for a community of only 8,000, but Louis and the entire Santa Maria community understood that the region desperately needed a local hospital. This tradition of enduring community support would continue with Louis’ son, Clifford Donati, and would later be passed on to Clifford’s sons—one being Richard (Dick) Donati, founder and co-owner of Rancho Guadalupe, LLC.
“My dad [Clifford] had a strong presence in the Santa Maria community, and it is his leadership and our family tradition of community philanthropy that inspired Rancho Guadalupe’s recent support of Marian’s Emergency Services Expansion Project,” explains Dick. “Rancho Guadalupe’s mission is to foster a dynamic and thriving community through excellence in growing vegetables, and as such, we are honored to support this significant project.”
Rancho Guadalupe grows a wide range of commodities on more than 2,700 acres. Along with co-owner James Wesner and the leadership of General Manager AJ Cisney, Rancho Guadalupe is making a profoundly positive difference in both the local agricultural industry and the community at-large, as the company’s leadership level gift demonstrates their commitment to both the medical center and the entire region.
In celebration of Rancho Guadalupe’s extraordinary commitment to the community, the expansion’s Pediatric Emergency Department Center will bear the company’s name. Rancho Guadalupe’s specific support of the Emergency Department’s pediatric track is particularly special as company leaders are passionate about advancing local pediatric care.
It is undeniable that Rancho Guadalupe’s strong support of Marian’s Emergency Services Expansion Project makes the company a true example of a community catalyst, as Rancho Guadalupe’s support will further the lifesaving care provided to the thousands of men, women, and children seeking emergency care at Marian.