Compiled by Kelly M. Ryan
The Irvine-based Foundation for Christian Stewardship and 28 other local affiliates of the National Christian Foundation made $230 million in grants last year. The Foundation for Christian Stewardship was established in 1996 to help people give money to a variety of causes and organizations. The foundation assists donors by offering them expert counsel.
Walt Disney Co. donated $250,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Disney also plans to donate a 12-passenger van each year to one OC and one Los Angeles club. This year, the vans were given to the Variety Boys & Girls Club in Boyle Heights and the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim.
Kelly Smith gave a $120,000 grant through the Orange County Community Foundation to CureDuchenne. Cure- Duchenne is an Orange County-based nonprofit that seeks to cure Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The grant will be directed toward research with the goal of accelerating the clinical trial process to bring treatments to children who inherit the disease.
Donors at the Chrysalis Ball fund-raising dinner raised $80,000 to benefit New Directions for Women. New Directions is a housing treatment facility in Costa Mesa that assists women, families and their children in recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. The evening honored Costa Mesa-based Experian Americas’ Donald Girard with a Community Impact Award. Board member and volunteer Sally Frei was the honored investor.
Santa Ana-based Fullmer Contract LLC donated about $65,000 worth of furniture to Northrise University in Ndola, Zambia. The university instructs both men and women and seeks to empower Zambians to help themselves through economic revitalization. Fullmer donated conference tables, office chairs, reception chairs, lateral files and other materials to be used by Northrise University students.
The Tustin Public Schools Foundation presented a check for $47,672 to the board of education of the Tustin Unified School District. The check will fund 35 classroom grants awarded to teachers in the district based upon recommendations from the Steering Committee. This year, grants provide funding for math and science projects, including technology improvements and field trips for hands-on experience.
The Portola Riders began their annual three-day ride through Rancho Mission Viejo by donating $10,000 to Mission San Juan Capistrano. The Portola Riders include prominent business and civic leaders from throughout Orange County. They have donated nearly $300,000 total to support the mission.
Pat and Shirley Boone donated a rare Lokomat walking machine to High Hopes Head Injury Program in Tustin. The machine is designed to teach patients who have had head or spinal cord injuries to walk again by harnessing them upright to simulate a walking motion on a treadmill. The Boones donated the machine after their grandson Ryan Corbin suffered severe head injuries in 2001.
Eighty employees from W.W. Grainger Inc. committed to join the American Red Cross’ Ready When the Time Comes program. The program is designed to provide immediate manpower when a disaster strikes in Orange County. Irvine’s Standard Pacific Homes committed additional resources as the local lead sponsor.
