The late
Rebekah Huber liked to say that because her Norfolk, Virginia family's money "came from
the community, we felt like we should give back to the community."
She made
good on that promise in 1985 when
she
donated more than $2.5 million to the Hampton Roads Community
Foundation to create the Paul S. Huber Memorial Fund, named for her
late father. He had been president of Norfolk Newspapers, a predecessor to
today's Virginian-Pilot and its parent company Landmark Media
Enterprises.
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| Rebekah Huber |
In the mid-1980s area civic leaders were searching for a
way to provide ongoing operating support for the arts in South Hampton Roads.
The Huber Fund with its specialized interest in supporting a united arts fund
provided the impetus in 1987 to start the Business Consortium for Arts
Support.
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| Paul Huber |
Today 27 businesses and foundations donate to the
business consortium, which shares office space with the community foundation.
Among the annual funders are the community foundation's Huber Fund and seven
other field-of-interest funds dedicated to the arts. This month those funds provided a $446,000 grant so the
business consortium can help area arts and cultural groups in the coming
year.
Since 1987 the business consortium has awarded $18.5 million in grants to more than 45 different cultural arts organizations. More than $5.8 million of that amount has come from the Huber Fund.
This
year 32 arts groups in South Hampton Roads received business consortium grants.
They include the Virginia Symphony, the Suffolk Art League and the Virginia
Museum of Contemporary Art. Those organizations and others in turn provide 1,000
full- and part-time jobs for area citizens -- ranging from set designers and
curators to musicians, actors and dancers.
"General operating support is the hardest kind of money for a nonprofit to raise," says William Hennessey, executive director of the Chrysler Museum of Art, which receives consortium funds. "That's exactly what the business consortium provides."
"The fact that leading businesses contribute to the consortium sends a wonderfully positive message that what's good for the arts community is good for business," Hennessey adds.
"General operating support is the hardest kind of money for a nonprofit to raise," says William Hennessey, executive director of the Chrysler Museum of Art, which receives consortium funds. "That's exactly what the business consortium provides."
"The fact that leading businesses contribute to the consortium sends a wonderfully positive message that what's good for the arts community is good for business," Hennessey adds.
We think
that is a sentiment that would please Rebekah Huber, who loved going to
classical music concerts and the theater. She died in 2007 at age 92 leaving her
own named fund to the community foundation.
The $2.5
million endowed fund Rebekah Huber started in 1987 to honor her dad has already
given out more than $5.8 million. Through investment growth her fund is now
valued at more than $5 million.
That means Rebekah and Paul Huber will be supporting the arts in their home community forever.
That means Rebekah and Paul Huber will be supporting the arts in their home community forever.
