Born in Cleveland in 1929 to a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Dr. Marvin L. Bellin developed a lifelong passion for social justice, which he translated into numerous projects when he moved to Pittsburgh in 1961. He was a founding member of the Pittsburgh chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters, a spokesman for Physicians for Social Responsibility during the Vietnam War, and more recently, a member of Physicians for a National Health Program.
In 2001, using funds inherited from his mother, Pearl Rosenberg Bellin, Marvin Bellin established the Gamma Fund, named after the sobriquet by which his mother was fondly known to her grandchildren. The fund, which Bellin administered until his death in 2018, has awarded grants to local nonprofits including the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, the Children’s Institute, the Pittsburgh Promise and others.
The Gamma Fund is currently managed by Bellin’s children Samuel, Joshua and Rebecca, and will continue to aid local organizations and the people they serve.
To learn more about Dr. Bellin’s life and work, please read his obituary.