Honoring Alan Hassenfeld

It is nearly impossible to convey how fortunate we are—as were so many organizations in Rhode Island—that Alan Hassenfeld had such great passion for our community, our children, and our hospitals.

Alan’s support for Brown University Health dates back decades and we are deeply saddened by this tremendous loss felt by so many.

Giving generously to Hasbro Children’s and The Miriam Hospital, Alan believed in living charity and being an active changemaker in the community. His vast support included leading the charge with Al Verrecchia to build Hasbro Children’s—Rhode Island’s only dedicated pediatric hospital—as well as continued giving for critical programs like Child Life.

“Alan will forever be remembered as someone who wanted to make the world a better place,” said Al Verrecchia, former chairman, Brown University Health. “He was happiest when he was helping people, especially children.”

For years, at Hasbro Children’s, he and many other Hasbro, Inc. team members would hand out presents and cookies to kids around the holidays. Seeing the faces of children light up despite the adversity around them is something Alan said just last year, meant so much to him.

“The loss of my friend Alan Hassenfeld leaves a profound gap in my heart and in the fabric of Hasbro Children's. Alan was the pied piper who led the troops on Hasbro Inc.’s Global Day of Joy by showing his generosity and deep caring for the children. His commitment and passion to the health and well-being of children both in body and mind, and most of all, his kindness, will be greatly missed,” said Phyllis A. Dennery, MD, pediatrician-in-chief and medical director, Hasbro Children’s. “It’s been an honor to serve as the Sylvia Kay Hassenfeld Professor of Pediatrics [at The Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University] for the last 10 years, especially knowing how much the endowment, named for his mother, meant to Alan. His legacy will forever live on in all the areas his generosity touched.”