Plath Family Helps The Mission’s Mission

In Act Two Scene Two of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Juliet  asks, “ what’s in a name?”  If the name is Plath, the answer is Generosity with a capital “G”.  Look around town and you’ll see the family behind Washington Fruit is more than ready to share their considerable harvest.  Recent examples – A new building on the campus of Perry Tech, a new early learning  facility in northeast Yakima, a two million dollar donation to the downtown plaza project and now this.

In a press release from the Yakima Union Gospel Mission, Communications Director Stephanie Carlson reports UGM “has received its single largest gift, which single-handedly completes the funding of its Medical Care Center, Washington's largest free medical clinic. The $700,000 gift was generously given by Dorothy and Fred Plath, one of the top leaders of the Washington tree fruit industry, via the Yakima Valley Community Foundation.”

Thousand of Yakima Valley residents will benefit from the clinic, not just mission clients.  Mission doctors say most of the patients served by the Medical Care Center are employed and either uninsured or underinsured, averaging over 1,200 visits a month.

Carlson says “A medical concern can place a family in a financial crisis due to loss of employment, high medical costs, and high deductibles.” “It is the right thing to do," says Rick Plath, President of Washington Fruit and Produce Company, which was founded by his grandfather, the late Fred Plath.