How Can You Become a Legendary Philanthropist Like Josh Darden?

It has been a sad few days in Hampton Roads.

The reason? The death on January 22, 2014 of Joshua P. Darden Jr. -- one of southeastern Virginia's legendary philanthropists.

Josh was a kind and generous Virginia Beach, Virginia resident who was part of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation family for many years -- 27 of them as a board member including 10 years as our board chair. He was a donor and a member of both our Legacy Society for Hampton Roads (a group of future donors) and Community Leadership Partners (a giving group of current donors). He was a tireless advocate for the community foundation concept that enables people from all walks of life to become philanthropists.

So what are the lessons Josh leaves behind for those who strive to be like him? Listen to him in the 2011 interview included here, and you will hear some wise advice. Below are a few observations from years of watching Josh in action:

• Never ask anyone to do what you won't do. Josh was incredibly generous and would enthusiastically enlist others to support causes he believed in like the new Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center the Salvation Army's Hampton Roads Command will open in Norfolk, Virginia in 2014. But, no matter the cause he was championing, he always was the first to donate, and he never wanted any kudos for doing that. He just wanted more people to join him in supporting important causes.
• Be welcoming. Josh was always available to meet with people whether he knew them or not. They could have just moved to the area, and he would be eager to meet them. He once said, "I like meeting new people. I get ideas from them and sometimes I can help them."
• Invest in the future. Josh did this in many ways. To make sure students from South Hampton Roads public schools had opportunities, he co-founded the ACCESS College Foundation. To date its services and scholarships have helped more than 40,000 students go to college. To keep a pipeline of engaged community leaders, he helped start the CIVIC Leadership Institute, which continues to train citizens to become community leaders.

Josh Darden & scholarship recipient
Sydney Palese, a JMU student, met in 2013.

In 2009 more than 40 of Josh's friends and colleagues joined forces to create the $1.2 million Friends of Joshua P. Darden Scholarship at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Many donors were former colleagues at Colonial Chevrolet whom Josh had mentored and helped get their own car dealerships. Josh was thrilled his "Friends" scholarship would be for public school graduates from southeastern Virginia attending public colleges in the Commonwealth. Today there are 14 Darden Scholars in college. Among them is James Madison University senior Sydney Palese of Virginia Beach. She is the first in her family to attend college, and she had the opportunity to meet and thank Josh while interning at St. Mary's Home in the summer of 2013. He thoroughly enjoyed hearing about her plans and knowing his scholarship was helping her achieve them.

Josh was a tireless advocate for philanthropy who believed all of us have the ability to make our communities better. For that we say thank you!

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. Over the decades it has provided more than $195 million to improve life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org.)

How Can I Continue to Support My Favorite Causes After I Die?

William Goldback supports arts & education forever.

Like many people, you likely have special charitable causes you care about and routinely support through donations to nonprofits working in key areas.

Enhancing the arts, helping unwanted animals find homes, improving the environment, supporting education, helping homeless people get back on their feet .... the list of good causes relying on your charitable gifts is endless.

Have you ever thought about what the causes you support will do when you pass away?

Your generosity doesn't have to end with your death. One way to continue helping your favorite causes forever is through your area community foundation. In North America there are more than 700 of these charitable foundations built by donors from all walks of life. Each underpin in specific geographic areas good causes and the nonprofits involved with them. With one simple charitable gift made through a bequest in your will or other estate plans, you can help your favorite causes long after you are gone.

Perhaps you could be like the donors doing good works forever through the Hampton Roads Community Foundation -- the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia. Here is a sampling of them:


• William Goldback, a Norfolk businessman who loved going to concerts and plays and valued good health. He donated regularly to organizations working in these areas. Even though Bill died in 2007, today the field-of-interest fund he started at the community foundation through a bequest provides grants to nonprofits working in his areas of interest -- performing arts and  medical services, education or research that help people in Hampton Roads live healthier lives.
• H. Lee Kanter, a Virginia Beach attorney and founder of the Farm Fresh grocery

  

  Lee Kanter is 'Bravoman'

  chain, put a provision in his will to start after his death two field-of-interest endowments for the performing arts. Although he passed away in 2001, his grants through the community foundation still help organizations bring music, dance and theater performances to his home region. We like to think this man, whose son nicknamed him "Bravoman" for being the first to leap to his feet after arts performances, is still leading the ovations every time a  grant goes out in his name.



Perry & Bunny Morgan
will help others forever.

• Peggy and Bunny Morgan, a Virginia Beach couple who passed away in the 1990s, live on today through unrestricted and field-of-interest funds entrusted to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Perry was a sharecropper's son who went to college on the G.I. bill, which changed his life and propelled him to a career as a newspaper publisher. A bequest from his estate created permanent charitable funds that reflect his interests by supporting scholarships for area college students and grants to human service and arts organizations in Hampton Roads.

All of these forward-thinking donors to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation live forever through the bequests they put in their wills to support their favorite causes. Through the power of endowment the amounts of grants going out in their names continue to increase as their funds rise in value.

To learn how you can create a permanent fund through the Hampton Roads Community Foundation click here. To learn more about this community foundation and its good works it does in southeastern Virginia on behalf of its donors click here.

Click here for a Council on Foundations map that will help you locate the community foundation nearest you.

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. Over the decades it has provided more than $195 million to improve life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org.)

What Is the Best Way to Be Remembered If I Have No Children?

How can someone with no children be remembered forever?

If you have no children but have a generous heart, you can be like the late 

Florence Smith has
helped nearly 750
physicians pay for
medical school since
she died in 1952.

Florence L. Smith and live forever through your area community foundation. There are more than 700 of these regionally focused foundations in North America helping people from all walks of life become philanthropists -- either during their lifetimes or after they pass away.

Florence Smith was a Norfolk, Virginia physician's daughter who never married and had no children or family left when she died in 1952. But, she lives forever because she put a provision in her will to start a scholarship fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. At the time it was called The Norfolk Foundation and was a two-year-old community foundation.

Florence's idea of sending long-time Virginians to medical school in the commonwealth has given her nearly 750 "heirs" -- people helped by her generosity. That number is growing each year. In 2014 her scholarships are helping 19 medical students pay for their educations. Look for more "heirs" to join Florence's family later in 2014 when the next Smith Scholars are selected.

In 1953 there were 20 Virginians in the first class of Smith Scholars. Among them was Dr. Percy Wootton of Richmond, Virginia, who was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (formerly Medical College of Virginia). He became a cardiologist and president of the American Medical Association.

Smith Scholars have gone on to be caring physicians, researchers, medical missionaries and professors working throughout the United States and in other countries. Quite a few of them have headed regional, state and national medical associations.

More and more Smith Scholars are modeling the generosity of their benefactor by becoming Hampton Roads Community Foundation donors themselves or supporting scholarships at their alma maters. In 2013 student Brian A. Holloway of Chesapeake, Virginia became the first recipient of the new Helen and Buzzy Schulwolf Fund for Smith Scholars. The Eastern Virginia Medical School student who dreams of a career as a dermatologist also has a Smith scholarship in 2014.

Dr. Alfred L. "Buzzy" Schulwolf, a retired Norfolk pediatrician who started the Schulwolf Scholarship at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, was helped by a Smith scholarship. It enabled him to attend the University of Virginia School of Medicine from 1954 to 1958. Florence's generosity  inspired him to start his own scholarship fund in 2011.

As Buzzy explains, "I've given to lots of charities but this is one that actually helped me."

Florence's bequest to her community foundation for the scholarship fund was $436,620. Through the power of endowment, it has provided more than $2.5 million in scholarships and is now valued at more than $2 million.

That means Florence Smith will continue gaining new heirs to her legacy as she helps future generations achieve their dreams of becoming medical doctors.

The last line of Florence Smith's February 18, 1953 obituary says: "There are no survivors."

Through her community foundation connection with nearly 750 physician "children," Florence Smith proves that is not true. One of her scholarship recipients from many years ago whose life was changed by Florence Smith says: "I say a little prayer to Florence Smith every day."

To learn more about Smith Scholars click here.

To learn how you can create a scholarship fund or one of the many other kinds offered by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation click here.

Click here for a Council on Foundations map that will help you find information on the community foundation nearest you.

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. It is dedicated to improving life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org.)