Foundation Annual Reports

CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

445 South Figueroa Street
Suite 3400
Los Angeles, Calif. 90071
(213) 413-4130
http://www.calfund.org

Period covered: Year ending June 30, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: This foundation was created in 1915 by Joseph Sartori, president of Security Trust & Savings Bank, and hired its first full-time staff member in 1946. Today it awards discretionary and donor-advised grants to nonprofit groups that primarily benefit residents of Los Angeles County. Donors established 111 new funds during the foundation’s 2004 fiscal year.

Discretionary grant making focuses on the Nurturing Neighborhoods/Building Community program, which emphasizes four areas: high-quality education for children attending preschool through eighth grade, expanded employment opportunities that place adults in jobs that pay a decent wage and offer the potential for career growth, increased access to primary health-care services for poor people and families, and efforts to revitalize distressed neighborhoods and build community leadership. The foundation places special emphasis on people who “face barriers and discrimination due to language, economic situation, culture, or sexual orientation.”

For example, the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, in Los Angeles, received $170,000 for culturally appropriate diabetes treatment and management programs, and the Mothers’ Club Community Center, in Pasadena, received $41,960 for a literacy program for low-income mothers and their young children.

The Visual Arts Initiative supports the work of artists and arts groups in the Los Angeles area while reflecting the region’s diversity.

The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation, a supporting organization, was established in 1994 through the will of Ms. Howard, who served as Walt Disney’s housekeeper for 30 years. In 2003-4, it allocated 12 grants to benefit disadvantaged children in Los Angeles County.

Another supporting organization, the Fedco Charitable Foundation, made 135 grants totaling more than $150,000 to help teachers in selected school districts enhance the learning experiences of their students.

In February 2004 Antonia Hernández, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Foundation, in Los Angeles, became the California Community Foundation’s president and chief executive officer. She succeeded Jack Shakely, who retired after leading the foundation for 23 years.

Application procedure: Potential applicants should review the foundation’s “Tips for Grant seekers,” application guidelines, and lists of recent grants, all of which are available on its Web site. The foundation also holds grant-application workshops that are designed for each specific initiative and held in the weeks leading up to the application deadline.

Key officials: Antonia Hernández, president; Joseph Lumarda, executive vice president and chief operating officer; Steve Cobb, vice president and chief financial officer; Alvertha Penny, interim vice president for programs; Catherine Stringer, director of communications; Ken Gregorio and Tara Westman, senior program officers; Silvana Miller, director of administration; Mary Chambers, director of community relations; Dorothy Avila Courtney, chair of the Board of Governors; Jane G. Pisano, chair emeritus.

W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION

1 Michigan Avenue East
Battle Creek, Mich. 49017
(269) 968-1611
http://www.wkkf.org

Period covered: Year ending August 31, 2004.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1930 by Will Keith (W.K.) Kellogg, founder of the breakfast-cereal company that bears his name. During his lifetime Mr. Kellogg donated much of his fortune — more than $66-million in Kellogg Company stock and other investments — to the foundation. The foundation derives most of its income from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust, also established by Mr. Kellogg, who died in 1951 at the age of 91.

During its 2004 fiscal year, the foundation paid out $219,694,955, including new commitments totaling $192,806,707. Its grant making revolves around four program areas: youth and education, which received $40,445,744, or 19 percent of grant dollars; philanthropy and volunteerism, $26,215,657, or 12 percent; health, $23,810,978, or 11 percent; and food systems and rural development, $19,255,151, or 9 percent.

The foundation allocated the remaining 49 percent of grant dollars to related program activities and special opportunities, “recurring grants,” and programs in southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Battle Creek, Mich., area.

Geographically, the foundation concentrates its giving on programs in the United States, which received 81 percent of grant dollars; Latin America and the Caribbean, which received 10 percent; and the southern African nations of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe, which collectively received 9 percent. The foundation tailors its giving within its four program areas to meet the specific needs of each geographic region.

The youth and education program supports activities that promote the healthy development of infants, children, and youths by strengthening the educational, health, and other systems that affect learning. The program emphasizes two strategies: galvanizing youths, families, and community members to promote policies that can improve education for disadvantaged children and young people, and forging strong alliances between educational institutions and communities in order to improve academic performance, learning, and work-force preparation.

For example, the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency, in Pontiac, Mich., received $100,000 to plan for a system that will link noncustodial parents to services that can help improve their child-rearing, literacy, and vocational skills.

The program on philanthropy and volunteerism seeks to mobilize new donors and to promote effectiveness, innovation, and leadership at charitable organizations. The program places special emphasis on efforts that involve women, youths, and members of minority groups. Awards included $147,380 to the National Center for Black Philanthropy, in Washington, to improve its financial management, increase the amount of unrestricted income it raises, and enlarge its donor base.

The foundation’s health program promotes wellness among at-risk people and their communities by engaging those constituents, improving health-care quality and access, informing health-related public and consumer policies, and advocating positive change within health-care institutions and systems. For example, Persephone Productions, in Washington, received $66,000 for a documentary designed to increase public understanding of health-care issues affecting men.

The food-systems program works to guarantee long-term supplies of wholesome foods and methods of food production that are economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially responsible. To complement those goals, the foundation makes rural-development grants designed to better the lives of people in rural communities by creating expanded economic and social opportunities.

The foundation’s work in Latin America and the Caribbean places priority on projects in southern Mexico and Central America, northeastern Brazil, and the Andean regions of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru.

William C. Richardson, president and chief executive officer, recently announced that he will retire at the end of this year.

Application procedure: The foundation considers requests that fall within its established or developing program areas. To be eligible for a grant, the applicant organization, as well as the purpose of the proposed project, must qualify as being tax-exempt under Section (501)(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The foundation encourages grant applicants to submit pre-proposals electronically, using the online application form available at the foundation’s Web site. More-detailed information and grant-making guidelines for each program are available on the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: William C. Richardson, president and chief executive officer; Gregory A. Lyman, senior vice president and corporate secretary; Anne C. Petersen, senior vice president for programs; Richard M. Foster, Marguerite M. Johnson, Robert F. Long, and Gail D. McClure, vice presidents for programs; Paul J. Lawler, vice president and chief investment officer; La June Montgomery-Talley, vice president for finance and treasurer; Hanmin Liu, chair of the Board of Trustees.

CORPORATIONS

FREDDIE MAC FOUNDATION

8250 Jones Branch Drive
Mail Stop A40
McLean, Va. 22102
(703) 918-8888
http://www.freddiemacfoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2003.

Purpose and areas of support: The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) created the foundation in 1991. The fund’s grant making concentrates on children and teenagers who are “vulnerable to poor outcomes.” It allocates grants in three major program areas: strengthening families, foster care and adoption, and youth development.

In 2003 the foundation made grants and employee-matching gifts totaling approximately $20.1-million. Geographically, some 65 percent of grant dollars went to advocacy and direct-service programs in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, including portions of Maryland and Virginia. The remaining 35 percent of grant dollars went to organizations that operate nationally or in the five cities where Freddie Mac has regional offices: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York.

The foundation also maintains three “signature” programs that supplement its focus areas: Healthy Families America, which seeks to stem child abuse and neglect through home visits and other programs; Wednesday’s Child, which locates permanent adoptive homes for foster children in Washington and the five cities listed above; and the J.C. Nalle Community School, which enrolls students in Washington’s Marshall Heights neighborhood.

The foundation awarded grants and employee-matching gifts totaling $14.3-million to its three main programs, up from $7.3-million the previous year. Allocations included $26,852 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maryland, in Leonardtown, to provide one-on-one mentor opportunities to disadvantaged youths in Charles County, and $150,000 to Bright Beginnings, in Washington, to provide homeless preschoolers with high-quality child care and their parents with services to help them attain stable living situations.

The foundation teamed up with Freddie Mac to provide $1-million to the Metropolitan Police Boys & Girls Clubs, averting their closure and supporting the organization’s merger with Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.

Regional grants, which totaled $2.6-million, included $100,000 to Children’s Research Triangle, in Chicago, to provide health care, psychological counseling, and additional services to foster children living in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.

Also in 2003, the foundation created the Helping Hand Emergency Fund, which distributed more than $2-million to 45 Washington-area nonprofit groups affected by the economic downturn.

Application procedure: The foundation is not currently accepting proposals. Additional program information is available on its Web site.

Key officials: Maxine B. Baker, president and chief executive officer of the foundation and vice president, community relations, Freddie Mac; J. David Robinson, senior vice president and chief operating officer of the foundation and director of operations, community relations, Freddie Mac; Janice Thomas, chief financial officer of the foundation and director, reporting and operations, community relations, Freddie Mac; Donna Baines, director, community relations and communications; Cheryl Clark, director, foundation giving; Michael Schwartz, director, corporate giving and employee involvement; Ralph F. Boyd Jr., chairman of the foundation’s Board of Directors and executive vice president of community relations, Freddie Mac.