Despite sharp declines in foundation
assets and individual worth, the charitable giving scene in Arkansas
has had its high points. It was a good year for the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences, which received a $33.4 million gift from
the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to add four floors to the Reynolds
Institute on Aging, the second largest gift UAMS has ever received. The
Reynolds Foundation also awarded a $9.2 million challenge grant to the
Museum of Discovery for updating the Clinton Avenue museum and its
exhibits; MOD has five years to raise $3.5 million to match. The
Winthrop Rockefeller Trust awarded a total of $9.6 million to the
University of Arkansas for the Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean
Mountain and approved future payments to the institute of $21.5 million.

Here’s a look at other six-figure gifts
from individuals, grant-making foundations as reported on their 2008
tax returns, and awards made public in 2009. 

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MEDICAL

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The Willard and Pat Walker Foundation
donated $3.75 million to UAMS toward the construction of the new tower
at the Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Research Institute and $100,000 for
event sponsorship.

 

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The Stella Boyle Smith Trust donated $1 million to Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation to support construction of the hospital’s South Wing.

 

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The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation pledged $1 million to Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville.

 

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Don Tyson and the Tyson Family Foundation, the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation and Johnelle Hunt
each gave $500,000 to the Northwest Arkansas campus of UAMS, to be
located in the former Washington Regional Medical Center facility in
Fayetteville. The Care Foundation donated $500,000 as a challenge gift to leverage smaller gifts for the development of the northwest campus, and the Walton Family Foundation gave $300,000 to the effort.

 

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Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future
(PIN) gave the Arkansas Community Foundation a $250,000 grant to be
matched by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing and the Arkansas
Foundation for Medical Care to drive a program to unify the state’s
geriatric nursing programs. The UAMS College of Nursing will receive
the bulk of the funds.

 

The Care Foundation gave $200,000 to the Community Clinic at St. Francis House NWA.

 

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The Winthrop Rockefeller Trust donated $200,000 to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for special needs children.

 

EDUCATION

The Walton Family Foundation
awarded a $4.5 million grant to the Arkansas Public School Resource
Center, which will provide assistance to charter and rural school
districts. It also awarded:

• $2.9 million to the Arkansas Advanced
Initiative for Math and Sciences grant to match a $13.2 million grant
AAIMC received last year from ExxonMobil.

• $1.6 million to e-STEM public charter schools.

• $940,090 to the University of Central Arkansas Foundation.

• $933,500 to the Northwest Arkansas Community College Foundation Inc.

• $917,090 to the University of Arkansas Foundation.

• $798,733 to the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund

• $408,738 to the Benton County Single Parent Scholarship Fund.

• $240,000 to Arkansas Tech University.

• $229,934 to the Washington County Single Parent Scholarship Fund.

• $215,622 to the Lincoln Public School District.

 

The Windgate Foundation donated
a total of nearly $4 million to John Brown University in 2008 and 2009
as part of a five-year $10 million challenge grant; $600,000 to the
University of Arkansas, part of a multi-year $2.4 million pledge to the
university’s School Improvement Programs; $450,000 to JBU for its New
Markets Scholarships; $423,000 to JBU’s Soderquist Center of Leadership
and Ethics; $210,000 to an ordained couples retreat at JBU, and
$200,000 to the JBU multipurpose arena.

 

The estate of Octa N. High, a
West Memphis high school science teacher, gave $3 million to the
University of Arkansas to endow scholarships in anthropology, biology,
chemistry and biochemistry.

 

Gordon and Sudie A. Worsham of
Dallas gave $1 million to Hendrix College for the construction of the
Student Life and Technology Center in memory of Gordon Worsham’s
mother, Nannie Emily Lasater Worsham, who was head nurse at Hendrix.
The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., awarded a challenge grant of $750,000 to Hendrix College to support the center.

 

The Murphy Foundation donated $1.5 million to Hendrix College.

 

The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation
donated $1 million to the University of Arkansas for scholarships,
$592,000 to the University of the Ozarks, $500,000 to Southern Arkansas
University, and $150,000 to Hendrix College. It pledged another
$500,000 to Hendrix (part of a $2 million pledge).

 

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
awarded grants of $300,000 to the Arkansas Department of Education,
$165,000 to Advocates for Community and Rural Education, $100,000 to
the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund, $100,000 to the Southwest
Arkansas Planning and Development District to assist youths in
Northwest Arkansas, and $100,000 to Youth Strategies for immigrant
youth in Northwest Arkansas.

 

The Charles M. Taylor Foundation donated $200,000 to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for scholarships.

 

Dr. Nancy J. Harm, a retired
professor at UALR, donated $166,000 to the university for scholarships
for students pursuing a graduate degree in the School of Social Work.

 

The Care Foundation awarded a
$120,000 grant to Springdale High School for efforts to increase the
graduation rate and $120,000 to the Communication Arts Institute to
create videos and curriculum on school-based nutrition.

 

SOCIAL, COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL NEEDS

The Walton Family Foundation
donated $2.1 million to Southern Financial Partners, now Southern
Bancorp, which makes development loans in the Delta, and made two gifts
worth $1.4 million to the Harvey and Bernice Jones Center for Families.
It also donated:

• $736,660 to the Bentonville Child Care and Development Center.

• $250,000 to the Illinois River Watershed Partnership.

• $204,323 to the Nature Conservancy, Arkansas Chapter.

 

The Care Foundation donated $500,000 to the Jones Center for Families.

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
awarded $300,000 over two years to support the Life After High School
Project as leverage for $706,000 in federal funds. It also made these
awards:

-A total of $277,032 to the Arkansas
Public Policy Panel for various projects, $250,000 to Audubon Arkansas,
and $279,500 to the Nature Conservancy Arkansas Field Office (all over
three years) to support findings in the foundation study, “Water Issues
in Arkansas: An Unfinished Story.”

• $175,000 over two years to support the Center for Community Philanthropy, part of the University of Arkansas.

• $175,000 to the Mid-South Delta Local Initiatives Support Corp.

 

The Winthrop Rockefeller Trust
donated $267,000 to the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and approved a
grant of $4.45 million to the foundation for future payment.

 

The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation pledged $250,000 to the Jones Center for Families and donated $250,000 to Life Styles of Fayetteville.

 

 

Culture, recreation

The Walton Family Foundation donated $5.1 million to Camp War Eagle. It also donated:

• $793,988 to the Bentonville/Bella Vista Trail Blazers Association Inc. 

• $779,013 to the Walton Arts Center.

• $750,000 to the Rogers Little Theatre.

• $343,290 to the Peel House Foundation.

 

The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation pledged $500,000 to the Razorback Foundation.

 

The Ross Foundation of Arkadelphia gave $104,750 to Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs for children’s programming.

 

The Winthrop Rockefeller Trust donated $100,000 in matching funds to the Museum of Automobiles on Petit Jean.

 

Religion

The Glass Family Foundation donated $475,000 to Benny Hinn Ministries.

 

Corporate giving

The Walmart Foundation awarded
UAMS a $1 million grant to renovate the first floor of the former
Washington Regional Medical Center hospital into conference space and
classrooms for the UAMS Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy. It also gave
$250,000 to Arkansas Literacy Councils Inc. to support 50 councils.

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