Eva's Legacy of Love
A Planned Giving Story
Twenty years ago, when Las Vegas was in the midst of a tremendous building boom on the Las Vegas Strip, our fast-growing community was also quietly breaking ground on the city’s first and only Ronald McDonald House.
Ms. Eva Martin, a visionary community leader – both then and now - is the heart and soul of the “House That Love Built.” In her own words below, she shares her passion for being part of this organization’s mission of serving families in medical crisis in our own community and beyond.
Eva’s Legacy of Love
I love Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas and I want it to continue forever!
I believe in their mission of giving a home away from home to those families who have a sick child and need to travel to Las Vegas so they can receive that critical care. I believe in RMHC’s mission of creating and supporting programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children and families in our community. I believe in finding ways to support local high school seniors to obtain their educational dreams- after all, they are the future leaders of our community.
I believe in education, because with it you can accomplish so much. Looking back to when I was in school, I distinctly remember how it felt to feel optimistic that I could reach my goals because of those who believed in me.
The admirable Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget the things you do, and people will forget the things you say. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I saw that in our growing Las Vegas community there was a need for educational scholarships for local high school students who were wanting to further their education to attain a better quality of life for themselves and their families. That is why 20 years ago, my late husband, James Martin, and I established the Ronald McDonald House of Greater Las Vegas Scholarship program.
Education was such a big part of our lives, and we believe education is the great equalizer in our society. We would use, and I continue to use, our McDonald’s restaurants as a hub for teaching and mentoring the young adults we hire.
After Jim passed away, I set up the “James and Eva Charitable Trust” in 2003, in his memory so every year, with the Ronald McDonald House, we can award students with college scholarships that provide young people with that feeling of hope that someone believes that they can, in fact, become who they want to be by receiving a higher education.
Craig Moore, a 2018 RMHC Scholarship Recipient through the “James and Eva Charitable Trust”, shares his gratitude:
“I am writing to thank you for the generous James and Eva Martin Charitable Trust Scholarship that was awarded to me. I cannot say enough about how grateful I am to organizations, such as yours, that are helping to make earning a college degree a reality.”
James and Eva’s legacy, given with so much love, will continue to live on through their admirable trust and scholarship program, providing the hope every young future leader needs to achieve their dreams.
