First Round of Grants From Helmsley Fund Signals Focus on People, Not Animals

The trustees of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust have announced the recipients of $136-million in the foundation’s first round of grants. The foundation, created by the will of the billionaire hotel mogul, is widely expected to become one of the wealthiest in the United States once Ms. Helmsley’s estate is settled.

The awarding of the gifts showed that the foundation does not intend to strictly follow Ms. Helmsley’s desire to put most of the money into charities that care for dogs.

Of the 54 grants announced, one-year donations of $100,000 apiece are going to benefit nine canine groups, and one group that benefits all animals. But all the rest of the money went to other types of charities.

Competing Statements

In February, a New York judge ruled that the trustees did not have to limit the distribution of their grants to charities focused on the care and welfare of dogs, a wish Ms. Helmsley, who died in 2007, expressed in a mission statement she signed in 2004. In that document, Ms. Helmsley said that she wanted the bulk of her estate — worth an estimated $5.2-billion — to go toward that purpose.

That mission statement revoked a previous document she signed in 2003 that said she wanted her foundation not only to benefit dogs, but also to support “medical and health-care services for indigent people with emphasis on providing care to children.”

But the judge, Troy K. Webber, found that the document originally establishing the charitable trust does not require that the trustees refer to the mission statement, and that it grants them “sole discretion” to give money to any charity they choose.

Mr. Webber wrote in his decision that the trust document “makes clear that the trustees’ discretion to apply trust funds for charitable purposes is not limited by any mission statement.”

That ruling may have set a precedent for charitable bequests since it raised questions about how closely trustees of estates are legally bound to distribute donors’ bequests to the causes they designated.

$136-Million Granted

The bulk of the $136-million is going toward conservation, education, health and medical research, and human services. The three largest grants include $40-million to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center for a center for digestive diseases; $25-million to Mount Sinai Medical Center for a center for electrophysiology; and $10-million to Mount Sinai School of Medicine for a center devoted to inflammatory bowel disease. All three institutions are in New York.

The trustees’ decision to give only $1-million to animal groups in this first round of grants has caused dismay among some animal-charity leaders. Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, called the amount “trifling” and said it was inconsistent with Ms. Helmsley’s stated charitable intentions.

“These resources could do tremendous good, as Mrs. Helmsley wanted, in promoting shelter adoption and spay and neuter programs, stopping puppy mills and dog fighting, and other programs to help dogs. We’ve been in touch with interested parties and hope for a constructive resolution,” said Mr. Pacelle in a written statement.

In a letter to the foundation, Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said she was “troubled” by the amount given to animal groups. Referring to the research grants, she asked Ms. Helmsley’s trustees to “implement a policy requiring all organizations and charities that receive research grants from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to use the funds exclusively for modern, nonanimal research.”

But the trustees see their decision differently.

“We are continuing the philanthropic legacy of Mr. and Mrs. Helmsley. Throughout their lives, the Helmsleys were committed to helping others through the innovations of medical research, responding to those in need during critical times, and in other areas. We now have the privilege of continuing their good works by providing support where it will make a difference,” said the trustees in a news release.

The five trustees are John Codey, an adviser to Ms. Helmsley; Sandor Frankel, her lawyer; David Panzirer and Walter Panzirer, two of Ms. Helmsley’s grandchildren; and Alvin Rosenthal, Ms. Helmsley’s brother.