White House Names 16 ‘Points of Light’ Honorees
Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Clinton’s Daily Points of Light Award. The awards, which are given to those who have done exemplary volunteer work, take their name from President Bush’s description of people who do community service…
TV Tycoon Pledges $28.5-Million to U. of Nevada at Las Vegas; Other Gifts
Several higher-education institutions have received big gifts. * The University of Nevada at Las Vegas is the latest organization to benefit from a pledge by James E. Rogers, a lawyer and owner of Sunbelt Communications, in Las Vegas. Mr. Rogers, his wife, Beverly, and their family have committed…
New Group Formed to Fight Eye Ailment
The Pfizer pharmaceutical company has provided medication worth $60-million to fight a bacterial infection of the eye that afflicts more than 150 million people worldwide. Pfizer is also providing $3-million in cash to battle trachoma, a disease that has blinded six million people in developing…
$25-Million Pledged for Disease Research
The Wellcome Trust -- Britain’s largest philanthropy -- has committed $25-million to a program to promote collaborative work by scientists from developed and developing countries in fighting infectious diseases in the tropics. The new Infectious Diseases Initiative, to be administered jointly with…
Packard Unveils Plans for $750-Million
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, in Los Altos, Cal., has announced that it will spend at least $375-million to slow population growth and another $375-million for conservation efforts over the next five years. The foundation, with $8.6-billion in assets, is the country’s third largest…
Debate Over Government-Paid School Vouchers Is Accelerating
Philanthropists who create scholarship funds to send poor children to private schools have entered -- some intentionally, others not -- one of the most politicized and controversial frays in education today: the debate over government-financed vouchers to let parents send their children to the…
By MARINA DUNDJERSKI
Contributor
As politicians debate school vouchers, many philanthropists start funds to give poor kids a private education Amid a heated national debate about the wisdom of government vouchers and tax credits for private schooling, an increasing number of philanthropists are creating scholarship funds that…
By MARINA DUNDJERSKI
Contributor
Cornell U. Begins Campaign to Meet $50-Million Challenge; Other Gifts
Donors have pledged large gifts to many non-profit organizations. * An anonymous donor has promised $50-million to Cornell University’s campaign to endow scholarships if others contribute triple that amount. The $200-million fund-raising drive was announced October 23 and has raised $70.2-million,…
CEO’s Departure Caps Period of Transition for California Endowment
The California Endowment is searching for a new leader following the departure last month of Steven Uranga McKane. Dr. McKane had served as the first president of the $1.7-billion health-care foundation, which was created in 1996 following the controversial conversion of Blue Cross of California to…
By DOMENICA MARCHETTI
Contributor
A Sampling of Grants by the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation
Assets Total grants Biggest grants Fiscal 1988 $10-million $270,000 $150,000 to Center for Study of Responsive Law (Washington)
Lawsuit charging excessive pay and unprofessional grant making at Conn. foundation could shake up rules of philanthropy West Hartford, Conn. Ralph Nader, whose high-profile lawsuits against corporations and government agencies have produced big changes in American automobile-safety standards and…
By Susan Gray
Contributor
For children with emotional problems or physical or mental disabilities, the opportunity to swim with a dolphin can be an enriching -- even a transforming -- experience. At age 3, for example, Joe Hoagland suffered a massive stroke during an operation to repair a congenital heart defect.…