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.)