"If we save just one life, it will be all worthwhile,” says local  philanthropist Roberta Garrett Veloz, whose unprecedented gift of $3 million to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in December capped off the Henry Mayo Health Foundation’s $12 million Capital Campaign for the Next Generation of Care, launched in 2003.  The campaign raised a grand total of $14.5 million.
Veloz — relaxing in her home in Westridge in the weeks following the largest known private donation in the history of Santa Clarita — told élite magazine the story behind the headlines and the inspiration behind her legacy of service.
“Everybody in this community needs this hospital,” asserts Veloz,  the majority funder of the planned Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, which will be named the Roberta G. Veloz Cardiac Cath Lab in honor of her contribution.  Her $3 million gift will directly benefit the life-saving facility, scheduled to open in 2007.  
“I’ve always believed that, wherever you live and work, you should give back to the community and give help to those who are less fortunate,” says Veloz, who sits on the governing board of Henry Mayo and is a past Foundation board member.  “That has always been a guiding force in my life. I was raised that way.”
Veloz’s extraordinary gift arose not only from her well-known legacy of giving in the community, but also out of a life-threatening emergency of a local resident that touched her heart with a call to action. 
“The son-in-law of a friend I’ve known for 20 years through my work with Soroptimist International of the Santa Clarita Valley had to be rushed to the San Fernando Valley for an emergency heart cath procedure, during which he had a full blown heart attack and almost died,” Veloz solemnly recounts of the near-tragedy.  “It happened just last year and that was the catalyst of my gift.”
Her donation follows the December sale of her Valencia-based Aquafine Corporation, a leading international manufacturer of ultraviolet water purification equipment.  The company was acquired by Hach Company of Loveland, Colorado, a division of Danaher Corporation. (See “Aquafine: The Next Chapter” on the following page.) 
For Veloz, community involvement has always gone hand in hand with her company. “It’s not the amount you give — every little bit counts,” says Veloz. “Give what you can afford and give freely — it always comes back to you.”  Despite the enormity of her contributions to the community, Veloz is unassuming in her generosity. 
“I don’t go to a formal church, but I do believe in tithing.  I have always given 10 percent of my gross salary away,” Veloz says, noting that she learned from the example set by her parents.
“My mother was a stay-at-home mom who was active in her church,” reminisces Veloz, pointing out dozens of framed pictures of florals and landscapes, painted by her mother Mary Garrett, that grace the walls of her Westridge home.  
Born in Butterfield, Missouri, Veloz, moved with her family to Yuma, Arizona, when she was 2 years old.  It was the era of World War II, and memories of the struggles of that time would forever shape Veloz’s philosophy of giving.  
“Yuma had opened its doors and homes to families of men that were being shipped out to war, so my family took in two young wives — one whose husband was sent to Germany and the other had gone to the Pacific,” recalls Veloz.  “They stayed with us for five years and moved with us to California.”
The Garrett family settled in Whittier, where Veloz attended Whittier College, majoring in chemistry and biology.  Veloz interned as a med tech at Huntington Memorial Hospital.  “That was my first career,” says Veloz who was employed at Huntington until the birth of her oldest son David. 
“Then I became a full-time mom. That was my second career, and one that I enjoyed very much,” smiles Veloz, whose son Peter was born three years later.
Veloz and her then-husband, Tom Veloz, settled in Sunland to be near the then Burbank-based Aquafine Corporation. The couple began volunteering for the SCV Boys and Girls Club auctions in 1975 through their friendship with Sam Garcia — then president of HR Textron — and his wife Marion.  
Good friends, good schools and affordable housing prompted Veloz and her family to move to the Valencia Hills neighborhood in 1977.  David was 15 and Peter was 12 at the time.  Veloz enjoyed supporting her sons’ participation in the Hart High School band through her volunteer work with the booster club.  Roberta and Tom Veloz bought Aquafine in 1980 upon the death of Veloz’s  father-in-law, Louis Veloz, who had originally founded Aquafine in 1949.  After outgrowing its facility in Burbank, the couple moved the business to Valencia in 1982.
“Aquafine was my third career,” reflects Veloz, who began her work there in 1980, overseeing production.  She went on to serve as president of Aquafine beginning in 1985.  She eventually bought the company from her former husband in 1994.  Veloz has since served as the chair of the board of the company, prior to her retirement in December 2005.
For Veloz, life after Aquafine will continue to be rewarding.  She cherishes time spent with her family and seven grandchildren. 
Veloz plans to continue her philanthropic work in the community and will continue to work closely with the hospital.  She hopes to inspire local residents to do the same.
“I’ve given a lot of money away, but if every citizen gave a dollar a week to the hospital, just think how much money the hospital would have,” says Veloz. “They would have more than $3 million — and right now, that’s just what our hospital needs.”