By Town Crier Staff Report

Peninsula Community Foundation last month announced the five finalists for the second Thomas W. Ford Award.

Created in 1999 to honor the late philanthropist and community builder Tom Ford, and to inspire future Bay Area philanthropists to continue their commitment to the region, this prestigious triennial award carries a $50,000 cash grant to the local charitable organizations of the winner’s choice and grants of $10,000 each to the non-profit designees of the finalists.

Three of the finalists are local residents: Mary Davey, longtime environmental champion and non-profit fund-raiser; and Becky and Jim Morgan, former California state senator and inaugural CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, and Applied Materials chairman and CEO, respectively.

The other finalists are Bud Colligan, technology pioneer; Leonard Ely, Palo Alto philanthropist; and Hans Wolf, former vice chairman of Syntex.

The winner will be announced at the foundation’s celebration of philanthropy Oct. 24, at 3000 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park.

The gala will gather more than 400 of the peninsula’s leading philanthropists and non-profit leaders to commemorate and honor the values that Ford embodied - integrity, respect for others and love of community.

The Peninsula Community Foundation is one of the fastest growing community foundations in the country.

It develops resources and programs that make it easy for peninsula and Silicon Valley residents to support the common good and connect with causes they care about.

The foundation holds assets of $500 million.