The Overbeck Fund

Elizabeth Overbeck

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~ Bruin Angels Award

It’s December, so what better way to celebrate the spirit of the season than to turn the spotlight on those who help others? Many Bruin staff and faculty donate their time and effort (and oftentimes, their money) to a cause near and dear to their hearts. Sometimes these charitable acts are done at holiday time; sometimes they’re done all year around.

Sometimes they’re done to help colleagues in need, as in the case of the nurses of UCLA’s 5 North Observation Unit, who decided to forgo their annual holiday gift exchange and donate the funds to counterparts at UC San Diego whose homes were damaged or lost in October’s wildfires. But in all cases, these acts of giving are performed outside of the employees’ full-time jobs. Here, then, is our tribute to the 2007 Bruin Angels … http://www.today.ucla.edu/out-about/071211_bruin-angels/

Elizabeth Overbeck


Raising awareness about the importance of carbon monoxide detectors was simply a way for Elizabeth Overbeck to recover.

In 2003, her parents, Gene and Patricia, died from carbon monoxide poisoning at their northern Michigan home after fumes from their car, which was left running in an attached garage, seeped into the house’s ventilation system. A year later, Elizabeth, her sister and two brothers formed a nonprofit to prevent similar tragedies from happening to other families.

"I don’t know if there was a reason something like this had to happen," said Overbeck, a nurse in UCLA Medical Center’s neuro-trauma intensive care unit since 1989. "But I’ve learned that if something bad happens, if you can somehow get something good out of it — I can’t tell you how much it helps you heal."

The Overbeck Foundation distributes carbon monoxide detectors and is lobbying legislators to force homebuilders to install them. As of late November, the Michigan House of Representatives reportedly was close to voting on HB5341, known as the Overbeck bill, which would require detectors in new residential construction. Overbeck and her siblings had helped bring the bill to fruition, and she was
prepared to leave Los Angeles at any moment to testify.

Overbeck hopes that success in Michigan will be just the beginning. "My vision is to make sure this happens in all 50 states," she said. "I would like to be able to tell my story and have people listen.
That, to me, is the most powerful tool we have."

For more information about the Overbeck Foundation, contact Elizabeth Overbeck at eoverbeck@mednet.ucla.edu.

— Sean Brenner