Church Receives $40-Million From Family; Other Recent Big Donations

Five organizations have received large gifts:

• Community of Christ, a religious denomination that has its headquarters in Independence, Mo., has received a $40-million unrestricted gift from a family who wish to remain anonymous. The church has 250,000 members in more than 50 countries.
• Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, in Newport Beach, Calif., has received $20-million from Bill and Sue Gross to construct a new building and endow a wellness center for women. Mr. Gross is the founder of Pacific Investment Management Company, also in Newport Beach.
• Joyce N. and William A. Furman have donated more than $12-million in stock through a charitable remainder unitrust to be shared among 39 charities in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Furman is chief executive officer of the Greenbrier Companies, in Portland, which builds barges and rail cars.
• Gordon E. Inman has donated $10.5-million to Belmont University, in Nashville, to construct a complex that will house the university’s college of health sciences and nursing. Mr. Inman, of Nashville, founded the Franklin Financial Corporation and Franklin National Bank, in Nashville, as well as Inman Realtors, in Tennessee’s Williamson County.
• Drake University, in Des Moines, has received a $10-million gift from Dan and Patricia McDonnell Jorndt, to endow scholarships and renovate its stadium. The couple are both alumni of the university, and Mr. Jorndt is a retired chairman and chief executive officer of the Walgreen Company, in Deerfield, Ill.

Other recent gifts:

American National Red Cross (Washington): $1-million from Sandra Bullock, the actress, for relief efforts in response to last month’s tsunamis.

Arkansas Children’s Hospital (Little Rock): $4-million bequest from the estate of James H. Hamlen II, a businessman from Little Rock who died last year, for unrestricted support. Mr. Hamlen’s family owned J.H. Hamlen and Son, a timber and lumber business that was sold to Weyerhaeuser Company in 1988.

Canton College Foundation: $2-million planned gift from Joel M. Canino, a 1959 graduate of the State U. of New York at Canton, for unrestricted support for the university. Mr. Canino is a partner at Gemma Power Systems, in Glastonbury, Conn.

Carroll College (Waukesha, Wis.): $1.5-million pledge from George Richter to augment a trust that provides scholarships for nursing students, to endow a chair in nursing, and to support health-science programs.

The Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore): $1-million from Rajendra and Neera Singh, of Alexandria, Va., to create a scholarship fund at the engineering school and to support the Wilmer Eye Institute., and $1-million from Albert W. and Therese L. Turner, of Beltsville, Md., to construct a building focusing on eye care and research.

Mount Olive College (N.C.): $1-million from the family of George R. Kornegay Jr., the owner of several businesses in Mount Olive, for unrestricted support.

Nevada State College at Henderson: $2-million from Jim Rogers, owner of Sunbelt Communications, in Las Vegas, for unrestricted support. The gift is contingent upon the Nevada State Legislature’s providing the college with $23-million for a new facility.

Oklahoma City U.: $1-million from Tom Love, founder of Love’s Country Stores, in Oklahoma City, to establish a center in entrepreneurship.

Pitzer College (Claremont, Calif.): $3-million from Susan Pritzker, of Chicago, for a new residence hall. Ms. Pritzker is chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, and her family owns the Hyatt Corporation.

Portland Art Museum (Ore.): $3.5-million from Arlene and Harold Schnitzer, of Portland, to create a curatorial position in Northwest art, produce and document exhibitions, andacquire and conserve art from the region.

Presbyterian College (Clinton, S.C.): $1-million bequest from the estate of Robert M. Vance, of Clinton, for visual-arts facilities and programs. Mr. Vance was a banker and textile executive, and a former chairman of the college’s Board of Trustees.

U. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock): $4-million bequest from the estate of James H. Hamlen II, a businessman from Little Rock who died last year, to help construct a conference center, endow a faculty chair,and provide other support. Mr. Hamlen’s family owned J.H. Hamlen and Son, a timber and lumber business that was sold to Weyerhaeuser Company in 1988.

U. of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia): More than $2-million from several donors to endow a professorship at its law school. The largest contributors were Paul Haaga Jr., a 1974 graduate of the law school who is executive vice president and director of Capital Research and Management Company, a mutual-fund company in Los Angeles, and Charles Cogut, a member of the class of 1973 who is a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, in New York.

Wildlife Trust (Palisades, N.Y.): $1-million gift from Virginia Cretella Mars, of McLean, Va., for unrestricted support.