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.)

New Scholarship Lets Tommy Horvatic Live Forever

It's scholarship application season at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. This year the Hampton Roads Community Foundation is delighted to offer eight new scholarship funds to help students from southeastern Virginia attend college. Here is the story of one of our newest funds:

 

Rita Horvatic couldn't let her only son die.That's why the Virginia Beach, Virginia mother and her late husband Tom started

Anne Horvatic Chrisite & Rita Horvatic love to share Tommy's story.

giving scholarships in 1987. That was the year their only son Tommy -- the baby in their family of six -- would have graduated from Princess Anne High School.

After a 1986 car accident at the start of Tommy's senior year took his life, his family started collecting and recycling aluminum to earn money for scholarships in Tommy's name. Since 1987 the Horvatics have given $25,000 on their own to 25 Princess Anne graduates going on to college.

 In 2013 Tommy's mom made sure her son's legacy will continue forever.

Tommy Horvatic in 1986.

She donated $100,000 to create the permanent Tommy Horvatic Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Much of her charitable donation came from money earned by recycling aluminum.

Please take three minutes out of your busy day to let Rita Horvatic of Virginia Beach and her daughter Anne Horvatic Christie of Norfolk tell you in this video about Tommy and his scholarship legacy.

The new Tommy Horvatic Memorial Scholarship Fund is among more than 70 endowed scholarship funds administered by the community foundation. In 2013, 358 students are in college with help from $1 million in scholarships donated by people from all walks of life.
 

Applications are now available for the Horvatic Scholarship and the many others available for 2014-15. Scholarships were created by generous donors from all walks of life -- primarily for students from southeastern Virginia. The deadline to apply for most scholarships is February 28, 2014. Learn more.

Thank You, Clarence Robertson!

 

In 2013 we celebrated the 45th anniversary of the creation of the Clarence B. Robertson

Clarence Robertson Photo courtesy of Hampden-Sydney College

Fund and all the good works it underpins at countless nonprofits in southeastern Virginia -- from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia to St. Mary's Home and Lynnhaven River NOW.

Many people may not remember Clarence Robertson, the Norfolk, Virginia business and civic leader who died in 1965 at age 73. But, we do. Today we thank him for exemplifying the optimistic spirit of the more than 400 fundholders at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation:

Clarence Robertson knew his community would have future needs; he just couldn't predict exactly what they would be.

 That is why Robertson, president of Norfolk's Robertson Investment Corp. and Robertson Chemical Co., chose to create an unrestricted fund at his community foundation. This permanent charitable fund lives on long after Robertson and his companies. It is forever providing grants to an array of good causes in his home region through the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Robertson was a World War I veteran who led boards for the United Communities Fund, Bonney Home for Girls, Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Norfolk General Hospital and the Central YMCA. He was a First Presbyterian Church elder who served on the board of Hampden-Sydney College, his alma mater. He saw many changes in his years as a community volunteer, and he witnessed the powerful ways philanthropy gives others better lives.

In 1968, Robertson's generous $42,000 estate gift to the community foundation established a permanent unrestricted fund in his name. Through the power of endowment, the Robertson Fund has provided more than $215,000 in grants over the decades to dozens of area nonprofits. With a value today of $170,737, the Robertson Fund is poised to do good in Hampton Roads for generations to come.
Robertson inspired his cousin, Lelia E. Robertson of Norfolk to start two new unrestricted funds at the community foundation. She was a former Norfolk YWCA board president who created one fund in 1973 in memory of her late father Walter H. Robertson. He founded the Robertson Chemical fertilizer company that Clarence later led. After Lelia died in 1979, her estate gift created a second charitable fund -- the Lelia E. Robertson Fund.

All three Robertson funds have grown while continuing to help Hampton Roads citizens thrive. For that we say thank you.

Rebekah Huber Enriches the Arts in Hampton Roads

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

Rebekah Huber

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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