Anita Tarr Turk of Gilroy, CA was a vibrant businesswoman, travel enthusiast and avid equestrian who became ill with breast cancer in her 40s and battled it for more than three decades.

She never let cancer rob her of her positive outlook and determination. Wishing to spare others the pain she suffered, she was motivated to provide support for “top level research” searching for the cause of, and cure for, breast cancer.

Her professional advisor Mark Johnson of Johnson, Fantl & Kennifer, LLP, listened and suggested the Community Foundation as a potential partner for her philanthropy.

“Anita wanted to support whichever organizations were conducting the most effective research in finding the cure for breast cancer, and elected to rely on the staff and board at the Community Foundation to make that determination on her behalf from year-to-year following her death,” said Johnson. After she succumbed to the disease, The Anita Tarr Turk Fund for Cancer Research was created through a bequest to the CFMC.

CFMC staff researched options to best fulfill her legacy and recently made the first grant from the fund in the amount of $110,000 to the California Breast Cancer Research Program to enhance a large-scale research effort.

Since the fund is endowed, it will continue to make a difference in perpetuity in her name. Though she did not live to see it, her contribution serves to memorialize her unshakable belief that a cure will one day be found.