Celtics owners give record $200 million to Boston Children's Hospital (Oct. 29)

The owners of the Boston Celtics are giving more than $200 million to Boston Children's Hospital, the largest gift the hospital has ever received, the hospital announced Thursday.

The gift comes from the Celtics ownership group and the team, in association with the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, according to the hospital.

How the gift came together

Half of the total comes from co-owner Rob Hale and his wife, Karen, whose $100 million gift announced last December is helping build the hospital's new pediatric behavioral health campus in Brighton. That gift inspired the rest of the ownership group, led by chairman Bill Chisholm, to match it, the Boston Globe reported. Neither the team nor the hospital disclosed individual amounts.

“I’ve had the privilege of seeing firsthand the extraordinary work being done at Boston Children’s Hospital and the difference it makes for patients and families,” Hale said in the hospital's announcement.

Where the money goes

The hospital said the gift will support five priorities: building a pediatric mental health facility and earlier help for kids in crisis, research into emerging therapies for childhood diseases, advanced training for pediatric nurses, an innovation fund for new ideas in children's health, and family-centered programs that promote healthy lifestyles.

“While the size of this gift is unprecedented for Boston Children’s Hospital, its significance will ultimately be measured not by the record it sets, but by the lives it will save,” hospital CEO Dr. Kevin Churchwell said, according to CBS Boston.

Beyond the court

The donation does not replace the Shamrock Foundation's regular giving. The foundation gave about $7.5 million last year to roughly 500 nonprofits across New England, according to the Globe and Axios Boston.