In 2004 a gift of $2.85 Million was donated to help in finding a cure for Alzheimers to the Byrd Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute in conjunction with the University of South Florida Foundation . This donation was by James “Wiregrass” Porter in memory of his wife, Martha M Porter, who passed away from the disease after a seventeen year struggle at the age of 76. To this day it is the largest private gift ever received by the institute.

The donation is set up as a charitable lead annuity trust and is to be used in support of research conducted in collaboration by the USF College of Medicine's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Byrd Institute. A portion of the donation is set up to finance state-of-the-art research equipment. These two centers are working with a common goal, to help, diagnose, research, and ultimately find a cure for and prevent this disease.