February 10, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
Amount donated in 2013: Approximately $72-million
Beneficiary: Jewish National Fund
Background: Mr. Boruchin founded Boruchin Enterprises, a home builder in Fontana, Calif.
Mr. Boruchin, who was 93 when he died in 2012, left about $72-million to the Jewish National Fund. He did not specify how the money should be used, but some years ago told officials at the nonprofit that he was interested in its water projects and education programs that would connect children to Zionism.
In keeping with the donor’s interests, the organization is using some of the money to develop water projects in the Negev, a desert region in southern Israel, and some of it to establish the Jewish National Fund Center for Zionist Education and Advocacy, which will be named for the donor.
As Holocaust survivors, Mr. Boruchin, a native of Poland, and his wife, Dora, who was from Russia, came to the United States with no money, and settled in Fontana, Calif. He started out working in a steel plant, then joined family members in a lumber business; he later began building and selling homes and purchasing real estate.
Although the couple became wealthy over time, they lived in the same modest home (one of the first his company built) until Mr. Boruchin’s death.
Before his bequest, Mr. Boruchin had given a total of about $200,000 to the Jewish National Fund.
The Philanthropy 50: Browse the full list of America’s most generous donors in 2013.
Learn more: See this donor’s listing in our database of major gifts, America’s Top Donors.
