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Bruce & Judi Goodman

 4 min read

Philanthropists by Design

Bruce and Judi Goodman

Bruce and Judi Goodman have a keen appreciation for design. Architectural design. Landscape design. Interior design. And the design of successful organizations.

It is their admiration for the latter, they say, that has helped inspire their charitable support for Abington Memorial Hospital.

"This is a phenomenal hospital," says Bruce, a member of the AMH Foundation Board and owner of Goodman Properties, a leading developer of commercial properties. "I've been very impressed with how well Abington is run, and by the tremendously loyal group of people who have been associated with it, generation after generation."

Recently, the Goodmans' support for the hospital rose to a new level.For many years they have made generous annual gifts, and during the hospital's Building on the Best campaign to build the Lenfest Pavilion they made a major, multi-year pledge.

But their most recent gift, established through their estate planning, has made the Goodmans the newest members of the hospital's most elite group of donors: the Million Dollar Roundtable.

"It's important to do whatever you can to support such a good hospital," says Bruce.

The Goodmans focus their generosity on a small group of organizations that hold personal meaning for them and have a significant impact in the community. In addition to their support for Abington Memorial Hospital, they have been involved for many years with the Madlyn & Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life, where Bruce serves on the board. Both have also served at different times on the board of Germantown Academy, where all three of their children attended school and where Judi is currently a board member and a co-chair of the development committee.

In fact, says Judi, it was back when their children were attending Germantown Academy that she and Bruce began to recognize their appreciation for Abington Memorial Hospital.

"When the kids were little," she recalls, "the school would ask what hospital to use in case of an emergency. That was long before we had any involvement with Abington Hospital, and we had a lot of hospitals to choose from. But we always told them Abington."

Today, their three children have grown into young adults of wide-ranging interests and accomplishments: one son is in law school, another works at Goodman Properties with his father and their daughter runs her own nonprofit organization as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

Deep Roots

Both Bruce and Judi have deep local roots. Bruce grew up in Jenkintown and went to Abington High School. After attending American University, he returned to Philadelphia and worked for several years with the Albert M. Greenfield Company real estate firm. In 1981 he joined Kahn & Company Real Estate, then left in 1985 to start his own company, Goodman Properties. Over the years, he has become one of the region's leading developers of commercial real estate, with tenants that include Costco, Regal Entertainment Group, Barnes & Noble, Staples, Best Buy, Genuardi's and many of the area's largest pharmacy retailers. An avid golfer, Bruce also chairs the Boys Town Jerusalem Annual Golf Outing and is past president of Squires Golf Club, where he currently serves on the board of directors.

Bruce has also served as a member of Abington Township's economic development committee for some 15 years. His devotion to improving the health of his community, says Bruce, is one of the factors that motivates his support for Abington Memorial Hospital.

"There's never a month that goes by when the hospital is not involved in some way with the township and the wider community," he notes. "The lines of communication are incredibly good between the hospital and the community, and the hospital's community outreach is very well done."

Judi grew up in the Worcester area near Blue Bell. She attended Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Flourtown, studied fashion design at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and worked for a time in area real estate offices as a paralegal. It was while working at the Albert M. Greenfield offices in center city Philadelphia that she met Bruce ("Under the giant clothespin!" she says with a laugh). In time she established her own interior design business, and with a partner she has provided design services for both residential and commercial clients for more than 20 years.

Recently Judi has shifted more of her focus to helping coordinate various philanthropic endeavors, including From the Heart, a group of 25 women with whom she has raised, since 1987, more than $1 million to benefit a variety of causes. For the group's recent event, "A Date with a Plate," Judi got to employ her designer's eye by bringing together floral designers and fine caterers to help raise funds for melanoma research.

Over the years, Bruce and Judi have emerged as prominent philanthropists who have focused their support on well-run organizations with a big impact on the future. Abington Memorial Hospital says Bruce, is a perfect example. "At the end of the day," he says, "Abington is one of the leading healthcare providers in the area. The stars are really aligned for this hospital, and it's great to be a part of that."