How Endowments Grow

Endowments are permanent. They are funds with the requirement that the principal is never spent. The balance in these funds is invested, earning income that is then spent to support charitable works in perpetuity. Below are stories which illustrate the power of endowment, they highlight individuals who chose to endow their passion. Through their generous acts, they continue to give back to San Diego now, and far into the future.

Colonel Frank C. Wood

An Endowment for the Common Good
Colonel Frank C. Wood was a war hero who spent 30 years traveling with the U.S. Army but always came home to San Diego. The Colonel requested that most of his estate be used for the exclusive benefit of San Diego charities after his death, bequeathing nearly $2 million for this purpose. The Colonel Frank C. Wood Memorial Fund supports an extremely broad range of causes including education and youth services, arts programs, environmental conservation, scientific research and health care, to name a few.

Since 1983, over $2.6 million in grants – a greater amount than Wood originally gifted – has been distributed from this endowment. The broad purpose of the fund allows it to address community needs that were unknown in Colonel Wood’s day and time. Flexible and perpetual, Common Good Funds like this one provide for the emerging needs of the community today and far into the future.

Historical Gift: $1.7 million
Current Value: $5.3 million*
Grants: $2.6 million*

*As of June 30, 2005

Sam Blasker

A Field of Interest Endowment
When Sam Blasker settled in San Diego after his discharge from the Navy, he invested in real estate. Employed as an engineer, he lived in a mobile home, yet still left almost $9 million to establish the Blasker-Rose-Mia Fund. This fund has yielded $4.6 million in grants to date, funding solutions to environmental problems as diverse as water pollution and threats to local animal life. With this generous permanent endowment, Mr. Blasker ensured continued environmental, scientific and medical advances.

Historical Gift: $8.9 million
Current Value: $13.3 million*
Grants: $4.6 million*

*As of June 30, 2005

Mollie Hunter

A Designated Endowment
Contemplating what to gift the city that had given her so much, Mollie Hunter stumbled upon her answer during a walk to San Diego’s downtown library. Witnessing a dreadful sight – a tattered and torn California State flag flying in front of the library – she dashed inside and offered to buy a new flag. Named in memory of her late husband, the Dell Hunter Memorial Flag Fund makes certain that fresh American and California State flags are always soaring outside San Diego’s main library.

Historical Gift: $4,005
Current Value: $12,080*
Grants: $4,820*

*As of June 30, 2005

James and Geraldine Bertelsen

In 1946, when James and Geraldine Bertelsen were married, they hoped to begin a family. They remained childless, but their love for children never diminished. Upon their deaths, the Bertelsens left their estate – composed mainly of the value of their home – to establish a scholarship fund at The San Diego Foundation in their family name. Since then, scholarships have been granted out for students at USD, Marquette University, Loyola Marymount and Notre Dame.

Historical Gift: $419,468
Current Value: $557,310*
Grants: $207,500*

*As of June 30, 2005

Major Reuben H. Fleet

Major Reuben H. Fleet is familiar to San Diegans who have visited the Science Center at Balboa Park bearing his name. Major Fleet also established a private foundation and entrusted his descendents with its management. According to their wishes, the Reuben H. Fleet Foundation came to reside at The San Diego Foundation. Through The Foundation, this fund supports homeless children, the poor, the elderly and provides scholarships for science-oriented individuals and organizations. More than 135 organizations have benefited from grants that exceed $13 million.

Historical Gift: $8.57 million
Current Value: $21.4 million*
Grants: $13 million*

*As of June 30, 2005

For more information about endowments, contact Adrienne Vargas, Vice President, Charitable Giving, at (619) 235-2300 or email info@endowsandiego.org. Or visit www.endowsandiego.org.

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