THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 8, 1996 TAG: 9607060012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 62 lines
Community foundations - now numbering close to 400 in the United States and Canada - are quiet, potent forces for human, cultural and civic betterment.
The Norfolk Foundation, which hung out its shingle in 1950, is a community foundation, the oldest and wealthiest in Virginia. Indeed, with more than $55 million in more than 80 distinct funds, the foundation ranks among the 50 best-endowed philanthropic institutions of its kind. The millions in its custody generate income that it distributes quarterly to students seeking scholarship aid and to nonprofit organizations.
In 1995, the foundation distributed $1.8 million in community grants and scholarships. Since its inception, it has distributed more than $25 million.
Recipients of foundation largess include, in addition to young scholars, hospitals; secondary schools, colleges and universities; civic and historic-preservation enterprises; family, child and social-welfare entities and donor-designated religious institutions.
The foundation has aided just about every worthwhile nonprofit community organization within a 50-mile radius of Norfolk and, as designated by donors, some beyond.
A list of recent grant recipients, as contained in the foundation's latest annual report, is typical:
The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, DePaul Medical Center, Diabetes Research Institute, Medical College of Hampton Roads, Operation Smile, Sentara Norfolk General, Business Consortium for Arts Support, Norfolk Public Library, Virginia Symphony, CIVIC (a new leadership program), Hampton Roads Naval Foundation, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, National Maritime Center, Norfolk Botanical Garden Society, Willoughby-Baylor House, Virginia Beach Rescue Squad, Virginia Zoological Society.
And the Boys Home, Covington (for care of Hampton Roads youths), Child Development Resources, Children's Museum of Virginia, M.E. Cox Adult Care Center, Martin County, N.C. (for social services), Norfolk Youth Services Citizen Advisory Board, Park Place Community Development Corp., The Planning Council, Plumb Line Ministries (low-income housing), Response (aids rape victims), United Way of South Hampton Roads, Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Church of the Good Shepherd and First Presbyterian Church, all in Norfolk, Westville Christian Church, Mathews.
And Black Achievers, Cape Henry Collegiate School, Catholic High School, Councils on Foundations, Hampden-Sydney College, Mary Baldwin College, Norfolk Academy, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Tidewater Community College, Tidewater Scholarship Foundation, Union Theological Seminary and the University of Virginia.
Although it gives it away, The Norfolk Foundation is not in the business of raising money. But it is a magnet for money, which comes its way - much of it through wills. The foundation's seven-member distributions board, composed of people well acquainted with Hampton Roads and its needs, consistently awards funds judiciously, inducing confidence in the foundation's stewardship. People trust the foundation to distribute wisely income from the money they give it.
That's been true from the beginning, when initial contributions were comparatively modest - one of the larger donations being $20,000 from Col. S.L. Slover, then owner of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Dispatch.
The foundation grew gradually for many years. Now the pace has quickened. A decent regard for Hampton Roads' well-being dictates the hope that the foundation's growth will accelerate, with more and more people transferring money to it for thoughtful distribution in perpetuity. by CNB