At first, tackling the Spider Web seems like an almost impossible feat. The goal for the Menlo Oaks Middle School students is to pass their peers through several openings in the 6-foot-by-6-foot contraption without touching the bungee cords and string that make up the web. But after a few tries and…
Pizza-empire founder is giving away his fortune to Catholic causes Thomas S. Monaghan spent 38 years building Domino’s Pizza into the world’s largest fast-food delivery chain. ALSO SEE:Philanthropist Puts His Faith in a New Law School -- and Stirs Up Debate That accomplishment, he says, was but a…
By DOMENICA MARCHETTI
Contributor
Aviation Mogul Gives $60-Million to Expand Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum
Steven Ferencz Udvar-Hazy, a Hungarian émigré who built a fortune leasing commercial jet aircraft, has given $60-million to the National Air and Space Museum for its planned Dulles Center in the Washington suburbs. The gift comes less than a month after the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery announced a…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Gates Pledges $1-Billion in Scholarships
Just weeks after catapulting up the ranks to become the nation’s largest foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $1-billion over 20 years to start a college scholarship program for low-income minority students. The “Gates Millennium Scholars” program will be administered by…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Recent ‘Points of Light’ Include Marine Pilot, Schoolteachers
Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Clinton’s Daily Points of Light Award. The Points of Light Foundation, a Washington charity, assists the President in making the choices and carrying out the award program. More information about the…
The French American Charitable Trust
History: Established as a family foundation in Bermuda in 1990 by Charles F. Feeney, co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group. Purpose and areas of support: Supports grassroots groups that “address fundamental inequalities and injustices” in American society. It makes grants in three areas:…
Couple Leaves $80-Million to Iowa State University; Other Gifts
Several organizations have received big gifts. * Iowa State University, in Ames, has received an anonymous $80-million bequest for its College of Agriculture. The Des Moines Register has identified the benefactors as Raymond Baker, a director of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, and his wife, Mary.…
Groups Put Pressure on Foundations to Increase Their Grant Making
This fall, foundations will come under more pressure to increase the amount they give ALSO SEE:Making Her Point in PublicThe French American Charitable Trust as two prominent philanthropy organizations step up their efforts to call attention to the issue: * Next month the National Committee on…
By MARINA DUNDJERSKI
Contributor
Secretive donor’s daughter heads campaign to increase giving Charles F. Feeney, the Irish-American business entrepreneur, shook up the non-profit world ALSO SEE:Groups Put Pressure on Foundations to Increase Their Grant MakingThe French American Charitable TrustFROM THE ARCHIVES:2/06/97: A Donor’s…
By MARINA DUNDJERSKI
Contributor
Foundations Award More Big Grants
Grant makers awarded a record number of multimillion-dollar grants in 1997, ALSO SEE:Foundation TrendsFoundation Yearbook Reports Big Gains in Giving, Assets according to a new Foundation Center report on grant-making trends. Foundations made 226 grants of $2.5-million or more, up from the previous…
By MARINA DUNDJERSKI
Contributor
President Honors Volunteers With Points of Light Awards
Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Clinton’s Daily Points of Light Award. The Points of Light Foundation, a Washington charity, assists the President in making the choices and carrying out the award program. More information about the…
Bequest to DePauw U. Tops $128-Million; Other Gifts
An Indianapolis couple who attended DePauw University, in Greencastle, Ind., have left the institution $128.5-million for scholarships. The bequest came from Philip Forbes Holton, who died in 1995, and Ruth Clark, who died two years later. The gift represents a little more than half of the couple’s…
Few Charities Likely to Get Tobacco-Settlement Funds
Non-profit groups may not benefit as much from a $206-billion deal between states ALSO SEE:4-H Defends Anti-Smoking Program Financed by Tobacco Company and companies that sell tobacco as once thought, if a new report detailing state lawmakers’ plans to spend the money holds true. The report,…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
4-H Defends Anti-Smoking Program Financed by Tobacco Company
Anti-smoking advocates, health charities, and leaders of 4-H groups around the country are troubled ALSO SEE:Few Charities Likely to Get Tobacco-Settlement Funds by the National 4-H Council’s plans to use a $4.3-million grant from the nation’s biggest cigarette maker to pay for a new effort to…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor