STORY BY RACHEL FARRELL
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARLA AND LARRY GILBERT
Marla and Larry Gilbert grew up steps from each other in Highland Park, Ill., a quaint and leafy suburb just north of Chicago. But they didn’t cross paths until Marla was 30 and Larry was 26, when Larry’s sister set them up on a blind date. On that date, they connected quickly—and not just because of their shared upbringing in Highland Park. “We realized we both had experienced a tragedy,” Marla recalls. “My eldest sister had passed away 10 years prior, and Larry’s niece had passed away a year earlier. We had similar feelings about it, and it allowed us to connect in a way that was different.” They also had a similar outlook stemming from those experiences. “Through mourning, we found that helping others had a positive impact on us and the organizations that benefited from that experience,” Marla says. They were married within a year.
Giving to causes they care about
In the decades since, the Gilberts have lived out these values in admirable ways. In between raising two daughters, Maddie and Taylor, and growing their careers (Marla is an interior designer; Larry is a wealth advisor), they’ve generously donated time and money to organizations they care about. These include Impact Grants Chicago, The Art Center Highland Park, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. They’ve also been particularly supportive of Boston University.
Marla and Larry weren’t engaged with BU until their older daughter, Maddie (’22), applied early decision to the University. “Maddie said, ‘This is where I really want to go,’” Marla says. “She was the one who put BU on our radar.” Eager to support her daughter, Marla volunteered to serve as the Illinois parent representative for the BU Parent & Family Programs. She and Larry also hosted a meet-and-greet for 80 new families from across the state before the fall semester began.
Deepening their ties to BU
During her freshman year, Maddie decided to transfer from the College of Arts & Sciences to Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, where she could major in human physiology. The experience was so positive that Marla and Larry felt compelled to step up their involvement in BU. “Larry and I immediately loved the embrace of Sargent,” Marla says. “It felt like a family: very personable and very welcoming.”
Soon, Marla was invited to join Sargent’s Dean’s Advisory Board (as one of only two non-alumni on the board), while Larry joined what is now the University Advisory Board. They started making anonymous gifts to Sargent, Hillel, and the Student Life Fund, including a large, unrestricted gift to finance the purchase of an Anatomage Table for Sargent’s Gross Anatomy Lab. The table, which looks like an oversized iPad, provides 3D anatomy visualization and functions as a virtual dissection tool for anatomy and physiology students. It proved invaluable for Sargent students during the pandemic, which began during Maddie’s sophomore year. “Maddie called us and was talking about it,” recalls Marla. “She said, ‘You will not believe what we’re using in my anatomy course.’ It was a great tool for her to have during COVID.”
Continuing a legacy of giving
Through their philanthropy, the Gilberts are continuing a legacy of giving that their parents began. Marla’s mother, for example, was an active volunteer in the Chicago chapter of Ronald McDonald House Charities, which supports and houses families with sick or injured children. She stumbled upon one of the houses while grieving the loss of Marla’s sister and decided to put her energy toward helping the families living there. For the next 18 years, Marla’s family would drive down to the house every Christmas and hand out food and presents. “We would give Christmas to people who were going through a difficult time and wouldn’t normally have a Christmas,” Marla explains. Today, although Marla and Larry don’t share the details of their charitable giving with Maddie and Taylor, they hope to model the importance of philanthropy so the legacy of giving continues. “We’ve tried to raise them to accept everybody,” Marla says, “and always help other people.”