The Delaware Community Foundation “25 Years Of Caring” With Vice President Joe Biden
The Delaware Community Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary this week, bestowing the first Delaware Family Philanthropy Award and launching a campaign to raise $2.5 million for its new Strategic Fund.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. made official remarks.
Since its inception in 1986, DCF has distributed more than $128 million in grants, now averaging about $15 million per year. The foundation manages charitable funds for individuals, families, businesses and organizations, and also distributes income from the funds as scholarships and grants to nonprofit agencies throughout the First State.
“When times get tough, donations drop and the need for services goes up. We’ve seen many nonprofit organizations have to reduce their services when people need them the most,” DCF Board Chairman Thomas D. Wren said. “Endowments give organizations a steady stream of income, so they can keep doing their good work in perpetuity.”
The evening included the presentation of the DCF’s inaugural Delaware Family Philanthropy Award. Philanthropist Adrienne Arsht, daughter of the late S. Samuel and Honorable Roxana Cannon Arsht, accepted the award on behalf of the Arsht family.
S. Samuel Arsht was a prominent corporate attorney, described as the master of Delaware’s influential corporate statutes. The Honorable Roxana Cannon Arsht was the fifth woman admitted to the Delaware Bar and the state’s first female judge. Adrienne became the 11th woman admitted to the Delaware Bar, 25 years after her mother. She launched a successful career in law and banking, culminating in a move to Miami in 1996 to run TotalBank, which she sold in 2007. She now lives in Washington, D.C.
“I was raised that your reason for being was to give back,” Arsht said. “My parents embodied this every day of their lives. They were always generous – whether with their time, energy or money. Every day, they inspire me to do what I can. I am deeply touched by this award and thank you on behalf of the Arsht family.”
At DCF, Sam and Roxana established the Arsht-Cannon Fund, whose mission is “to preserve support, protect and defend the best interests of a civil society.” Since its creation, the Arsht-Cannon Fund has supported nonprofit agencies with more than $4.5 million in grants, including more than $2 million focused specifically on helping Delaware’s Latino families. Among the fund’s greatest successes statewide are English language and family literacy programs, Nemours’ BrightStart! Dyslexia Initiative, family mental health programs at the Latin American Community Center, Best Buddies, Cancer Care Connection, and various special programs in Hispanic communities.
Among their generous gifts to the First State, Sam and Roxana provided the initial and final gifts for the construction of Arsht Hall for the Academy of Lifelong Learning at the Wilmington campus of the University of Delaware. Sam also gave Delaware the Roxana Cannon Arsht Surgicenter, an outpatient surgery facility on the Wilmington campus of the Christiana Care Health System.
At the 25th Anniversary Celebration, DCF also officially launched the campaign for its new Strategic Fund. The Strategic Fund is an endowment fund whose earnings will support DCF’s operations in the future, CEO Fred Sears II said.
The Foundation’s goal is to raise $2.5 million for the Strategic Fund by the summer of 2012. So far, friends of the Foundation have given more than $1 million, Sears said, including a gift of $250,000 from the Arsht-Cannon Fund, which Adrienne Arsht announced at tonight’s event.
About the Delaware Community Foundation
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Delaware Community Foundation manages charitable funds for individuals, families, businesses and organizations, and distributes income from the funds as grants to humanitarian, educational, health and cultural entities throughout the First State. With more than 1,200 funds, $225 million in assets and annual grants of about $15 million, the Foundation provides a lasting source of charitable funding to benefit Delawareans today and for generations to come. For 25 years, the Foundation has been connecting people who care with the causes they care about, helping to make Delaware a better place to live and work. For information, please call 302.571.8004 in Wilmington or 302.856.4393 in Southern Delaware or visit www.delcf.org.