Estate donates $1M to Shriners Hospital

The Charles Marsland Jr. estate will give Shriners Hospital for Children $1 million to support a new hospital in the state.
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Since 1923, Shriners Hospital for Children in Honolulu has provided specialized medical care to 835,000 children from Hawai'i and the Pacific Rim at no charge. Located at 1310 Punahou St., Shriners Hospital recently launched its first capital campaign to raise funds specifically for this new venture. The total cost for the new hospital will be $73 million. The capital campaign intends to raise $14 million.

"This is the first time in 86 years that we have initiated a capital campaign to raise funds for our services," Gene Bracewell, Shriners Hospitals for Children International board of trustees, said in a prepared statement. "We have always provided free medical care to help children in need, and we have never taken any government funding. Our services are made possible by generous donations like these, and we are simply ecstatic about this significant contribution."

Marsland, a former Honolulu prosecutor, died April 11, 2007. A Punahou graduate and World War II veteran who served with the amphibious forces in the Pacific, Marsland returned to Hawai'i in 1967 with a degree in economics from Tufts University and a law degree from Northeastern University in Boston to work for First National Bank. He was working for the City Corporation Counsel's Office, handling routine legal matters, when the event that changed him forever occurred on April 17, 1975. That was the day his son, Charles F. "Chuckers" Marsland III, was murdered.

"Shriners Hospital does amazing things for children of all ages," says Pauline Grigg, a lifelong friend and partner to Marsland. "The Marsland family was very involved with Shriners, and we truly see the benefit their services provide. We are delighted that we can make a contribution to such a wonderful institution."

The new hospital will be 40 percent larger than the original building with state-of-the-art medical equipment and a modern interior that imbues a child-friendly environment. Construction at the site is already ahead of schedule, and the new hospital is expected to open in May of 2009.