Engineering Student Follows Benefactor's Path

Virginia Tech senior Shae O'Hara of Virginia Beach, Virginia never met the late Wilfred G.
Semple.

But he is having a great influence on her life because he left a bequest to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, which is providing Shae a scholarship for the second year. She also is spending this summer interning at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth,

Shae O'Hara
 (photo by Glen McClure)

Virginia for the second time.

It's a great coincidence that this is the same shipyard where Wilfred, who died in 1966 at age 80, spent his career as an engineer.

Shae, a senior industrial and systems engineering major, is preparing to follow in the footsteps of Wilfred G. Semple, whose scholarship is for upper-level students from Hampton Roads studying engineering, physics or math.

We can only imagine how happy Wilfred would be today to know that Shae is working at the same shipyard where he spent his career. And, even better, she has been offered a job after graduation next May that she is planning to accept.

"College expenses can be a considerable financial burden for a family, especially when its chief bread winner is a public school teacher," says O'Hara, whose brother also is in college.

Since 1991, when the Semple Scholarship started, 34 students have been helped by $155,000 in scholarships. Semple's original charitable bequest was $120,713, but the power of endowment has made his fund grow over time to a value of $277,627 while helping students like Shae. This fall there will be four Semple Scholars in college, including Shae.

It is donors like Wilfred Semple who make all the difference for students with dreams of great careers.

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is among nearly 750 community foundation around the country serving specific geographic regions. 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. You can click here to locate a community foundation near you. )

Community Foundation Grants of All Sizes Matter

Hampton Roads Community Foundation grants don't always have to be huge to make a big impact. Here is just one example:

Our office enjoyed a visit this week from a group of southeastern Virginia citizens who participate in a Cerebral Palsy of Virginia adult day program. The enthusiastic visitors included the Cerebral Palsy staff. Everyone was on a thank-you mission before enjoying an afternoon of bowling.

They stopped by our Norfolk, Virginia office to surprise us with a lovely plant in a pot they had decorated. The reason? They just wanted to say thank you for a $2,100 grant from The Laura Turner Fund, which our community foundation administers. The grant paid for adjustable tables to make it easier for participants to work on projects at a height that is best for them. The tables are used in both the day program and summer camp that will be starting soon.

We are delighted the grant is helpful and that we could award it in the name of Laura Turner. This field-of-interest fund was started in 1997 by the Louise W. Eggleston Center (now Eggleston Services).


Cerebral Palsy of Virginia visitors get to know some of our foundation staff members.

 

$1.6 Million Gift Highlighted in Newsletter

Click here to read the newsletter.

Philanthropist Joshua P. Darden Jr., who died in January 2014, left a $1.6 million bequest to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

The Virginia Beach resident's  parting gift was to donate his Individual Retirement Account to create an unrestricted fund -- the kind he championed as a member of the community foundation's board for 27 years/

Read more in Good Tidings, the spring 2014 newsletter of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Charles Syer Will Benefit His Community Forever

Charles Syer IV was a newly retired banker in 1996 when he accomplished two goals in life at age 65:

• Becoming a "free agent" not tied down by home ownership.
• Doing something charitable to benefit his community forever.

He accomplished both by connecting with the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Charles Syer

Charles, who for 30 years had managed foundation investments for the trust department at what is now Suntrust Bank, donated his Norfolk, Virginia condominium to the community foundation. The proceeds from its sale created the Charles Syer Fund. This unrestricted fund has provided grants to numerous nonprofit organizations in southeastern Virginia since 1996. Syer also arranged for a future bequest to the community foundation expand his charitable fund.

Charles, who lived in a Virginia Beach retirement community after selling his condominium, died on May 6, 2014 at age 82. His family designated the Charles Syer Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to receive memorial gifts.

Charles was a Portsmouth, Virginia native who lived most of his life in Norfolk after graduating from Princeton University and Harvard University. He was an Army veteran who enjoyed reading and the arts. For him an unrestricted fund at a community foundation in his home region made good sense.

"I liked the idea that the foundation is a long-term, ongoing and for the whole general area," he said. "As time goes by, organizations that are worthy during one period may change. With the foundation there is flexibility. The organization is steered by a group of local people who have demonstrated they are responsible and capable of using money intelligently."

Donations to the Charles Syer Fund will help an array of nonprofits in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. To make a charitable gift please:

• Click here to donate online. Please specify that your gift is in memory of Charles Syer.
• Mail a check to Hampton Roads Community Foundation, 101 W. Main Street, Suite 4500, Norfolk, VA 23510. Please designate your gift in memory of Charles Syer.

Click here to view Charles Syer's obituary.

Donors Honor Parents With Dazzling Chrysler Chandelier

The Valones admire the sculpture with artist Luke Jerram (right)

Dr. James and Christiane Valone of Norfolk found a special way to honor their parents and give a gift their whole community can enjoy. When the Chrysler Museum of Art reopens on May 10 a spectacular part of it will be the 17-foot kinetic chandelier dangling down the museum's spiral staircase. Click here to watch a 59-second video created by the artist.

It is typical to honor people with "things cast in bronze or engraved in granite," Jim Valone says. But he and Christiane went a modern route with a piece of functional art made from glass, wire and microchips. A grant from the Valones' donor-advised fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation paid for the chandelier whose clear orbs have insides that spin when exposed to light. If you pause at the stairwell and are quiet, your ears will be treated to a gentle fluttering sound emitted by the moving parts. Renowned British artist Luke Jerram created what he calls The Chrysler Chandelier from 330 glass radiometers. Tiny microchips hang next to each globe and produce enough infrared energy to make the spindles and vanes inside the glass orbs rotate.

"This is the first chandelier I've made that is powered by Infra red LEDS rather than sunlight," Jerram says. "What's interesting is that you can see the (invisible to the naked eye infrared light) only when you view the chandelier through your mobile phone."

 William Hennessey, Chrysler Museum executive director, remembers being fascinated when the sun made a radiometer on his window sill whir when he was a boy. "Radiometers have a great gee whiz factor," he says.

"The chandelier was commissioned for this very spot," Hennessey says. "We had a leading artist create something that will delight people from ages 5 to 85."

After nearly a year of work the 66-pound chandelier, which requires no electricity, was installed the other week. It bridges the museum's new upstairs modern art gallery with the ground floor where kids and families gather. Both the Chrysler's children's gallery and the

hands-on Hampton Roads Community Foundation Education Center are at the bottom of the winding staircase.

Christiane Valone is a long-time docent at the Chrysler Museum, which has been closed for more than a year for major renovations. She and her husband both love art and the Chrysler. The grant they recommended through their Hampton Roads Community Foundation fund honors all four of their parents who taught them to appreciate art and philanthropy: Denise Gabrielle Jacot des Combes and Leslie Ellis, who live in Great Britain, and Ethel Morrison Fielder of Raleigh and the late James Valone.

The Valones believe it is important for all young people to come face to face with art and develop a fascination with it. They look forward to the spinning chandelier encouraging families and young people to come and enjoy the Chrysler. Learn more from the Chrysler Museum of Art about the chandelier.
Read the April 10 Virginian-Pilot story by Teresa Annas about the chandelier.
Watch a 59-second video created by artist Luke Jerram and see his creation in action.

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is among nearly 750 community foundation around the country serving specific geographic regions. 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. You can click here to locate a community foundation near you. )
 

Photo by Gary Marshall courtesy of the Chrysler Museum of Art

Why Should Baby Boomers Plan Charitable Bequests?

Cindy Cutler & Craig Haines

Cindy Cutler and Craig Haines of Norfolk are two committed citizens of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia with plans to benefit their community forever. 

Like the more than 120 other members of the Legacy Society for Hampton Roads, a group of future donors affiliated with the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, the Norfolk couple loves their home region and wants to see it flourish. 

Cindy and Craig grew up in southeastern Virginia and made their careers here -- Cindy in mortgage lending and Craig in insurance. They are involved with many nonprofits, including Hampton Roads Business OutReach (HRBOR), WHRO, Hampton Arts Foundation, Tidewater Arts Outreach, Hampton Roads Chess Club and Toastmasters International. Both Craig and Cindy are passionate about  promoting equality, arts, education and better opportunities for all area citizens. They have made sure their support of many good causes will continue long after they are gone.

The Norfolk couple drew up wills when they married more than 20 years ago. "We put in our favorite charities and as things changed we kept doing handwritten codicils to update them," Cindy says. She and Craig decided there must be a better way to make a difference that will last forever. They started watching where the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, their regional community foundation, awarded grants. "The charities we were fond of, you were giving grants to already. You were supporting causes we believe in," Cindy says.

Several years ago Cindy and Craig made plans for a permanent charitable fund at their community foundation that will activate after they pass away. Their charitable bequest to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation will forever provide grants to an array of nonprofits helping people in the region lead better lives. Their unrestricted fund will let them remain relevant no matter what issues their community tackles in future years.

"In any way we can give back to our community, we are happy to do so," says Craig. 

"People are not good at planning for dying," says Cindy. "Baby boomers need to make plans or someone else will do it for them." 

Photo by Glen McClure

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is among nearly 750 community foundation around the country serving specific geographic regions. 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. You can click here to locate a community foundation near you. )

Applications Available for Stephen Carpenter Scholarship for Norfolk Public School Counselors

Stephen Ashby Carpenter loved being a Norfolk Public School guidance counselor.

Although he worked just a short time in his chosen field before a car accident took his life just over 20 years ago, Stephen's enthusiasm for his career lives on today. The Stephen Ashby Carpenter Memorial Scholarship started by his family continues to help Norfolk Public School counselors gain additional education.

After Stephen died Emily and Tom Carpenter, Stephen's mom and dad, set up a scholarship fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Memorial donations from friends, colleagues and family helped build the permanent endowment in his name.

The Carpenter Scholarship has helped numerous counselors over the years. April 1 is the

Stephen Carpenter's passion was
helping Norfolk students.

deadline for counselors in the Norfolk Public School system to apply to be the next Carpenter Scholar. The recipient will receive a scholarship for 2014-15 to help pay for graduate study. There is a preference for counselors who work with disadvantaged Norfolk youth. Click here to learn more about applying for the scholarship.

Stephen Carpenter was just 25 years old and working as a guidance counselor at Azalea Gardens Middle School when he died in November 1993. He had just started at the school a few months earlier. Ironically, one of his first accomplishments was setting up a grief program for students having no idea they would need it so soon.

Stephen's family knew how hard the Hampden-Sydney College graduate had worked to earn his master's degree in counseling at Regent University while teaching French in a Norfolk middle school. That's one reason they chose to start a scholarship to help guidance counselors like Stephen gain additional education and skills.

The first Carpenter Scholarship recipient in 1996 was Dr. Reuthenia Clark, who was a guidance counselor at Azalea Garden Middle when she was selected. Today she is principal of the same school and credits the Carpenter scholarship with helping her complete her master's degree at Columbia University in New York. She went on to earn a doctorate from the University of Virginia.

"I knew I wanted to be somewhere where I could make a difference for students through their teachers," Clark says.

Another early Carpenter Scholarship recipient is Dr. Susan Sigler, the Maury High School guidance counselor in charge of scholarships. "The Carpenter Scholarship opened a world to me," she recalls. "It helped me earn my doctorate.from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale." From there Sigler has gone on to head various programs in the Norfolk school district and also to teach college courses in the area.

 (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.)