91.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Private Dollars, Public Giving

While growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Jon Georgio and his siblings learned from their parents the importance of helping others. If someone was in trouble, they learned, it might not necessarily be their fault and there was a responsibility for watching out for each other. That attitude translated into how Gothic Landscape and Grounds Management, the company founded by the parents and now run by Georgio and his brothers, is run. “They set the pace of generosity and giving,” Georgio said. Gothic has set a track record of contributing to non-profit organizations and charities in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, and in Las Vegas where Gothic has a second location. The Michael Hoefflin Foundation, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, the Soroptimist Club, and World Vision have all benefited from monetary gifts or in-kind landscaping from Gothic. This spirit of giving is found among all types of Valley region business people who find success in private industry and in turn share that success in public ways. For every Roy Disney, auto dealer owner Bert Boeckmann, or attorney David Fleming – heavy hitters all in the charity world of the Valley – there are even more like the Georgios or Wayne Crawford, who, along with Valencia car dealer Don Fleming raises money annually for the breast cancer center at Henry Mayo; Anna Ott, who continues a tradition of giving started with her late husband; and the Water Buffalo Club which draws some of its membership from the Valley for projects benefiting children. Nationally, contributions to U.S. charities reached more than $295 billion in 2006, according to a study by the Giving USA Foundation. Individual gifts comprised about 75 percent of the amount, with the single largest amount – $1.9 billion coming from investor Warren Buffet. More modest but still important contributions come from the Valley. The new cancer center at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank bears the name of Roy Disney and wife Patricia after their $10 million donation. Buildings on the California State University, Northridge campus have been named for songwriter and former California politician Mike Curb; entrepreneur, art collector and author Roland Tseng; and entertainment mogul Michael Eisner. David Fleming has given $1 million to the school’s performing arts center and $2 million to Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys. It is his hope that new companies in the Valley region, particularly those doing well in the technology and biomedical fields make donations as well. “Alfred Mann has gone above and beyond anyone’s level of giving,” Fleming said. “It has been in the hundreds of millions.” Big or Small, Donations from All An entrepreneur who founded aerospace and biomedical companies including Valencia-based MannKind Corp., Mann divvies up his philanthropic donations through the Alfred Mann Institutes doing medical device research at USC and Purdue University; and the Alfred Mann Foundation, which conducts scientific and medical research. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Mann at No. 12 on its list of most generous donors in 2004, the year he pledged $100.3 million. Tseng made the 2003 list with his $38 million pledge to California State University, Northridge. High net worth people are so coveted by foundations and not-for-profits that software exists to better find who they are. Other organizations go the route of not exclusively seeking individual donations and instead bring in the bulk of their money through annual events. Ken Scherer, CEO of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation in Woodland Hills, found that because it assists those in the entertainment industry, the organization has always benefited from the high end of the wage scale. But the rank-and-file entertainment workers have been generous as well. “Where we do well is the smaller gifts,” Scherer said. Cathy Ritz, director of the foundation at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, chalks up that organization’s success to relationship building. Affiliation with the school also comes in handy although there are donors with no connection whatsoever but who support the school’s overall mission. “It is about people who are passionate about education and can see that education changes lives,” Ritz said. Creating a Legacy The topic of charitable donations often gets raised in discussing estate planning and that leads to a general discussion about charities, said Mitchell Freedman, a Sherman Oaks-based accountant and financial advisor who counsels high-net worth clients. Often times the first reaction of people with considerable money to bequeath is setting up a foundation. It’s a route that Freedman doesn’t necessarily recommend unless the individual is mega-wealthy. The administration of a foundation can be costly and may not warrant the expense when you take into account the altruistic goals. “There are other things they can do that are more cost effective,” Freedman said Real estate investor Rickey Gelb has been successful with his foundation that gives solely to Valley-based groups. He can easily count off the organizations that he supports the Jeopardy Foundation, Valley College, the performing art center at CSUN, the Valley’s Boys and Girls Club; scholarship funds; and the Tarzana and Encino Hospital Foundation. Many churches in the Valley also benefit from Gelb’s largesse when it comes to their carnival fundraisers. “We supply them food and bowling sometimes with hotel use,” Gelb said. Boeckmann, owner of the Galpin Auto Group, makes contributions of about $2 million a year through his charitable foundation. In 1991, Boeckmann coordinated the donation and distribution of 57,000 pounds of seeds for struggling Russian farmers. The next year he donated $1 million in supplies to home for mentally challenged children in Russia.

Featured Articles

Related Articles