New Jersey City University Lands $10 million From Former State Lawmaker (Gifts Roundup)

A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:

New Jersey City University

Frank Guarini gave $10 million to establish the Frank J. Guarini Institute for International Studies and a community performing-arts center, the latter of which will house the NJCU-Joffrey BFA in Dance program, a partnership with the Joffrey Ballet School, in New York.

Guarini is a real-estate developer who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1965 to 1972 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1993.

Millersville University

Samuel and Dena Lombardo donated $3 million to back scholarships, faculty development, internships, and other efforts within the Lombardo College of Business.

Sam Lombardo is the chairman and CEO of the Benecon Group, a Lititz, Pa., company that develops and administers self-funded health-insurance policies for companies and school districts in 15 states.

The Lombardos did not attend Millersville University but have donated a total of $5 million to the institution — including this latest gift — since 2015.

Gustavus Adolphus College

Mark Henneman and Terri DeGiusti Henneman pledged $2.65 million primarily to establish an endowment for the college’s counseling center, which is continuing to provide students with individual therapy and other mental-health resources during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hennemans met and graduated from the college in 1983. Mark Henneman is chairman and CEO of Mairs and Power, an investment firm in Saint Paul, Minn. Terri DeGiusti Henneman is a former nurse.

College of William & Mary

S. Stuart Flanagan gave $2 million to the School of Education. The money will support graduate students working in the New Horizons Family Counseling Center, which assists families of students in Williamsburg and surrounding area public schools, and the New Leaf Clinic, which provides counseling to William & Mary students and others struggling with substance abuse.

Flanagan is a professor emeritus who taught mathematics education at William & Mary for nearly three decades. The gift will join the two counseling centers under an umbrella organization called the Flanagan Counselor Education Clinic.

YWCA USA

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and her fiancé, Tom Bernthal, gave $1 million through Sandberg’s Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Fund, to YWCA USA to back the national organization’s domestic-violence programs.

Sandberg is a billionaire who gives regularly to nonprofits that help women, gender-equality groups, food banks, education, and charities that fight poverty. She has appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors four times since 2016.

Bernthal founded Kelton Global, a marketing consultancy. The couple also gave $500,000 to YWCA Silicon Valley to help domestic-violence survivors.

Houston Food Bank

Richard and Nancy Kinder donated $1 million through their Kinder Foundation to help feed those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The food bank is distributing food to those in need at between 150 percent and 200 percent of its prepandemic levels, which is roughly 750,000 to 1 million pounds of food per day.

Richard Kinder co-founded Kinder Morgan, an energy company in Houston. The Kinders have given extensively over the years to a variety of causes mostly in the greater Houston area.

They have appeared three times on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual Philanthropy 50 report of the biggest donors. They conduct most of their charitable giving through their foundation.

To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated throughout the week.