CARIBOU – A foundation to raise money to benefit health care in the area served by Cary Medical Center will begin its first fund drive later this year, according to project officials.

The Jefferson Cary Foundation, a nonprofit agency, wants to build upon its endowment so that interest generated from the funds may be used to purchase needed medical equipment for communities, Mary Harrigan, JCF executive director, said Wednesday.

Governed by a seven-member board, the foundation is separate from the Jefferson Cary Memorial Hospital Fund, a three-member elected board which manages the estate left by Dr. Jefferson Cary, for whom the hospital is named.

“We have been working very hard to build a strong foundation,” Dr. Craig Small, president of the foundation’s board of directors, said in a prepared statement.

“We now have an experienced foundation board, a part-time executive director and a small endowment that we will build on through the annual campaign. Only income generated by the endowment will ever be used and it will become a permanent fund for the benefit of improving health care in Aroostook County.”

A financial goal for the first fund drive will be set later this year, according to Harrigan.

Over the past decade, the foundation has focused its efforts on capital campaigns at Cary Medical Center, such as a new oncology and specialty clinic building, and a new women’s and children’s health center, where nearly $750,000 was raised.

“People have been very generous with our capital campaigns,” said Harrigan. “But we know that there are many needs in our communities and that people are not always able to give at the level you anticipate with a capital drive.”

Harrigan said that the annual fund drive would allow people to give smaller gifts on a yearly basis.

“Ultimately, when taken together, over time, these gifts will generate substantial contributions,” Harrigan said.

During the first drive, the foundation will contact previous donors to the foundation and the hospital. Other potential donors will be contacted throughout central Aroostook County and the St. John Valley, according to foundation officials. Donors whose gifts eventually total $1,000 will be recognized with a plaque mounted at the hospital.

“We believe that quality health care at the local level is very important to the long-term growth and success of our communities,” said David Dorsey, a local banker and member of the foundation board.

Although it will take time to build the foundation, the annual fund will provide a “great beginning,” Dorsey said.

Kris Doody-Chabre, chief executive officer at Cary, said the foundation’s work has allowed the hospital to meet patients’ needs.

“These board members are very busy people, and for them to volunteer hours and hours of their time to help the hospital is a very humbling experience for all of us who work here,” said Doody-Chabre.

The foundation was begun in 1981, but became more active during the 1990s.