By Local foundations have big impact on schools, numerous non-profits
 Photo by Sara Ballenger/Town Crier |
Family foundations flourish in Los Altos, LAH
amily foundations abound in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Whether the reasons are financially strategic, philanthropic or both, many of these foundations have assets in the millions, even tens of millions.
The two major family foundations associated with Community Foundation Silicon Valley are the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation and the Skoll Community Fund.
The Kirsches’ fund, with current assets at about $25 million, focuses on a variety of medical and environmental issues and has a strong lobbying component.
Los Altos-area resident Jeff Skoll, the first president of eBay, created the Skoll Community Fund (www.skollfund.org) in 1999. “Our mission is to empower those who have the greatest potential to make lasting positive contributions to their communities and the world,” Skoll’s mission statement reads. This year’s grantees range from Boys and Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley and Catholic Charities to the Community Association for Rehabilitation, Inc.
The Los Altos-based Morgan Foundation, funded by James and Rebecca (Becky) Morgan of Los Altos Hills, gave $3 million to De Anza College in June to enhance its environmental studies program.
“Our foundation giving focuses on programs that benefit the environment, youth and education. This project is the nexus of all three interests,” said Becky Morgan, a former state senator and past president of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network. James Morgan is the CEO of Applied Materials Inc.
Education is the focus of the Gay and William Krause Family Foundation. The Krauses, also of Los Altos Hills, count El Camino YMCA, the Center for Innovation at Foothill College, the Mountain View School District and The Tech Museum as major recipients.
Charles (Chuck) and Nan Geschke, and Claudia and Bill Coleman, head of BEA Systems, are among prominent high-tech leaders who have foundations registered with the state Attorney General’s office.
Chuck Geschke, who co-founded Adobe Systems with John Warnock, was scheduled to receive, along with Warnock, the Corporate Community Involvement Award from the Community Foundation Silicon Valley at its annual meeting Tuesday.
The importance of local foundations cannot be overstated. The millions of dollars that flow from family, group and company foundations in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills rarely make headlines, but their impact speak volumes.
From funding to address class size in elementary schools to help for local theater groups, foundations continue to enhance the quality of life, despite the recent economic downturn, while maintaining a quiet presence.
Affluent areas like Los Altos and Los Altos Hills have residents with the resources to have foundations. The state Attorney General’s Office Web site lists approximately 40 foundations in Los Altos alone.
The following are some of the key foundations in our area.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
When talking about local foundations, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation is usually the first to come to mind. Founded in 1964, the foundation has become one of Los Altos’ largest employers, expanding its scope and influence globally.
The multibillion-dollar foundation provides grants to non-profit organizations in the following areas: conservation; population; science; children, families and communities; arts; organizational effectiveness and philanthropy.
The foundation is a major contributor to the community’s schools, government and social service organizations. It has funneled more than $3.7 million into 50 Los Altos and Los Altos Hills projects since 1997, including the Bus Barn Stage Company, the Los Altos Historical Museum, Hidden Villa, Pilgrim Haven, and science and music education education programs.
The Packard Fellowship Program, which provides scholarships to 24 of the most promising new science and engineering researchers each year, is one of the nation’s largest nongovernmental programs of unrestricted grants to young university faculty in science and engineering.
Its $175 million Conserving California Landscapes Initiative - one of the most ambitious conservation efforts in U.S. history - surpassed its goal of protecting at least 250,000 acres. The foundation helped conserve more than 327,000 acres of California open space, farmland and wildlife habitat. The lands, roughly 10 times the size of San Francisco, are in the program’s target regions of the Central Coast, Central Valley and Sierra Nevada.
David Packard, co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company, and his wife, Lucile Salter Packard, created the foundation. Both shared a deep and abiding interest in philanthropy. Their children have continued to operate the foundation since Lucile’s and David’s deaths in 1987 and 1996.
The foundation’s assets were approximately $9.8 billion last December. Grant awards totaled about $614 million last year.
The foundation is required by federal law to give away a minimum of 5 percent of its total assets each year.
Since the start of this year, the foundation has awarded 630 grants, or $426,988,051. Local programs in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties received about 61 percent of that amount. Foundation officials expect to make grant awards for 2001 total approximately $550 million by the end of this year. For more information, call 948-7658.
Los Altos Community Foundation
The Los Altos Community Foundation is an endowment fund established in 1991 to build a stronger community and enhance the quality of life in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills through support of philanthropic activities.
It is one of more than 500 community foundations in the United States and is recognized by the IRS as a special class of foundation by offering tax benefits to donors who use it as a vehicle for their charitable giving.
The fund supports the community by making grants for local programs, building an endowment for the future and managing philanthropic funding for various organizations and individuals.
The major function is to support community building projects and activities. As an example, at the last meeting Oct. 17, the following grants were given: annual contribution to Ye Olde Towne Band, $1,000; Community School of Music and Art, $5,000; Festival of Lights Parade, $250 annual support; and Partners for New Generations/CHAC Out-to-Lunch program, $10,000.
Several areas of interest that come under the guidance of the Los Altos Community Foundation: the Bus Barn Stage Company, a leadership program (LEAD), mediation (the Los Altos Mediation Program), Partners for New Generations, and school liaison programs.
One of the functions of the foundation is to attract gifts that remain in the community of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and the surrounding area. However, a gift can also be the family’s giving arm, with the foundation serving as a convenient vehicle for giving to causes of choice, inside or outside the local community.
The foundation is housed in the Community House. Developers donated the house to the city of Los Altos, and the foundation financed the relocation of the house from the corner of Edith Avenue and San Antonio Road to its present site at 183 Hillview Ave. For more information, call 949-5908.
Los Altos Educational Foundation
The Los Altos Educational foundation is a parent-based volunteer organization, formed in 1982 as a way to ensure funding for the Los Altos School District in times of financial crisis, said Robyn Fay, executive director.
“We raise money for the classroom,” Fay said. “We fund physical education programs, music instructors, the junior high computer labs.” The foundation also funds technology, science and art aides and the art docents program.
“These enrichment programs are what enable our students to receive a well-rounded education,” Fay said.
The foundation is also focused on keeping class size small within the district.
“We have been able to reduce the English class sizes at the junior highs and pay teachers’ salaries so we can keep class size at 28 in the lower grades,” Fay said.
The foundation has pledged to raise $1.278 million this year for the district, which faces financial struggles.
For more information about the foundation, logon to www.laefonline.org.
Mtn. View - Los Altos High School Foundation
The Mountain View-Los Altos High School Foundation was formed in 1982 by a group of volunteer parents who were concerned with budget cuts due to the lack of state funding, said Julia Rosenberg, president.
“They (the founders) wanted to bridge the gap to maintain the quality of education we have come to expect from our local schools,” Rosenberg said.
The foundation funds the academic programs at Los Altos and Mountain View high schools, including the tutorial center, open to all students before and after school, and the College and Career Center at both high schools, Rosenberg said.
“I think we serve a large portion of our high school students through the programs the foundation supports at Mountain View, Los Altos and Alta Vista schools,” Rosenberg said.
The foundation also funds textbooks and science equipment and has helped fund the new performing arts facilities at both Mountain View and Los Altos high schools.
For more information about the foundation, call Julia Rosenberg at 948-4044.
Other school foundations
The Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation is a non-profit community foundation that raises funds to enhance educational programs in the Cupertino Union School District, said Executive Director Eleanor Watanabe.
In addition to its $450,000 annual grant to the district this year, the foundation has taken on a major campaign to create a new $6 million endowment fund for cultural arts and information literacy. The new Cultural Arts and Information Literacy Fund will provide certificated music teachers at all 20 district elementary schools; support a visual and performing arts matching fund program to bring artists into the classroom; and fund a team of Information Literacy resource teachers to work with classroom teachers and media aides. For more information about the foundation, call (408) 446-2333.
Montclaire School, part of the district and in Los Altos, has a foundation all its own. The Montclaire Educational Foundation was founded in 1991 to raise funds to enhance the education of students at Montclaire, said Mark Utley, president.
One of the goals of the foundation is to keep smaller class sizes as well as fund instructional aides, a library media clerk part-time and two part time physical education teachers, Utley said. For more information about the foundation or to volunteer call 967-3978.
The Foothill-De Anza Foundation supplements funding for the community colleges for such needs as new library materials, scholarship endowments and child development centers. Several Los Altos-area residents, including Robert Grimm and Jan Fenwick, serve on the board of directors. For more information, call 949-6230.
El Camino Hospital Foundation
The El Camino Hospital Foundation was established in 1982 to raise money for the hospital’s various community programs as well as for new equipment and other hospital needs. The foundation currently has $14 million in total assets. During fiscal year 1999-2000, it donated more than $1.3 million to the hospital. “We get quite a bit of support from the community,” said Victor Reid III, the foundation’s chairman. “They are aware that having a hospital nearby is an asset.”
The foundation regularly supports three community service programs. One such program is the RotaCare Free Clinic, which provides basic medical services, vaccinations, medications, patient education and referrals to indigent, low-income and uninsured community residents. The foundation also helps support the School-Child Health Program, which links families in need to comprehensive health services, and the Health Resource Center, which provides health care screenings, support groups and classes, elder-care counseling and a health library.
During fiscal year 1999-2000, the El Camino foundation donated funds for breast stereotactic diagnostic equipment; televisions for the Transitional Care Unit; lactation education software for the Maternal Connections program; Up-to-Date software, a medical reference database containing medical abstracts and complete drug database; and to help fund the Meditation Room garden.
For more information, call 940-7154.
This year, the estate of longtime Los Altos and Los Altos Hills resident Ruth Choate Anderson donated $470,000. “Both Ruth and her (late) husband (Earl) loved their community and determined to remember El Camino Hospital in their estate plan,” said Joseph Choate Jr. of Los Angeles, Anderson’s great-nephew.
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The Los Altos School District would be in big trouble without one. El Camino Hospital might not enjoy its strong reputation without one. Ditto for the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. Numerous area non-profits would probably go under without them.
