Giving Back: World War I Veteran Remains Relevant

A World War I veteran, Clarence Robertson was president of Norfolk, Virginia’s Robertson

Clarence Robertson

Investment Crop. and Robertson Chemical Co. He was an elder at Presbyterian Church of Norfolk, a Rotary Club of Norfolk member and served on the board of Hampton-Sydney College, his alma mater.

Many people may not remember Clarence, whose companies no longer exist. But we remember him well at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. We consider this local business and civic leader who died in 1965 at the age of 73 a visionary philanthropist.

In 1968, Robertson's generous $42,000 bequest to the Hampton Roads Community established a permanent unrestricted fund in his name. In the 47 years the Clarence B. Robertson Fund has existed, it has more than quadrupled to about $180,000. It has also unpinned a variety of nonprofits in the region -- many of which did not exist when Robertson was alive! By choosing an unrestricted fund, Robertson paved the way for our current board of director to respond to current needs.  

So far more than $215,000 from the Robertson Fund has been awarded in grants to area nonprofits including the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Crispus Attucks Cultural Center.

Robertson's generosity inspired his cousin, Lelia E. Robertson of Norfolk to start two unrestricted funds herself. This former YWCA board president donated $106,928 in 1973 in memory of her father Walter H. Robertson and then arranged for her own $104,503 bequest following her death in 1979.

Today, all three Robertson endowments continue to grow while helping Hampton Roads citizens thrive in ways the donors could not have imagined decades ago.

You, too, can leave a legacy! Click here to learn how to start a fund at the community foundation or donate to one already doing great work.

Robertson's Fund helps the Foodbank provide food for hungry citizens.

Lang Lang to Warm Donor E.K. Sloane's Heart

There will be two international stars on stage at Norfolk's Chrysler Hall on February 13, 2014 for Virginia Arts Festival's preview concert for its upcoming spring season.

Lang Lang doing what he loves

One of them is Lang Lang, the 31-year-old energetic piano virtuoso from China, who has ignited the music world since he was discovered as a teenager.

The other star is a new Steinway D grand piano made in Hamburg, Germany. The arts festival bought the instrument in January with help from a major grant from the E.K. Sloane Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

"It's the cream of the crop," Robert W. Cross, executive director of the festival, says of the new piano. It previously graced Carnegie hall's stage and has been declared by renowned concert pianist Andre-Michel Schub to be "the best piano I have ever played." Schub directs the festival's annual chamber music series.

E.K. Sloane, a Norfolk engineer who died in 1997 at age 90, loved piano music even though he didn't play the

E.K. Sloane

instrument. Because he thought to put a bequest in his will for a field-of-interest fund at his community foundation for pianos, our region has more than 110 amazing Sloane pianos. They are valued at more than $3 million and belong to more than 60 different nonprofit organizations. 

There were flames on stage at the Grammy Awards last month in Los Angeles when Lang Lang stole the show by performing with Metallica. Click here for a video. 

We expect Lang Lang and the new Hamburg Steinway to generate all the heat on Thursday at the 7:30 p.m. Norfolk show. And, we think E.K. would be thrilled with the spectacle. His pianos anchor many stages throughout our region will be featured venues during the festival, which will run from April 2 through May 25.

For information on Lang Lang and how to get tickets click here. Tickets range in price from $20 to $75. 

A dollar from each ticket will be donated to the Virginia Arts Festival Endowment at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. The endowment helps the festival bring special concerts to Hampton Roads audiences. The festival's endowment was established in 1997 -- the same year E.K. Sloane's bequest created his permanent fund for pianos.

(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.)