Coronadans Donate Through The San Diego Foundation

As featured in the Coronado Eagle & Journal

by Vicki Raun
April 7, 2004 - Local play-goers, homeless people in Chicago, Naval Academy midshipmen in Annapolis, mentally ill people near Jerusalem and farmers scattered around the world are all connected through a Coronado couple.

Chuck and Jo-an Howe have established a fund with The San Diego Foundation that allows them to designate where contributions from the fund go.

"God has blessed us mightily," said Howe. "Giving back to other people help others of God’s kids."

The Howes donated a gift of stock to The San Diego Foundation. "They do a great job of assisting people," said Howe.

In 2003, grants from the Howe Family Fund were distributed to The CEC Seabee Historical Foundation, Church Army, Coronado Hospital Foundation, Coronado SAFE Foundation, Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, Episcopal Community Services, Episcopal Relief and Development, Friends of the Four Homes of Mercy, Good News Partners, the Heifer Project International, Lamb’s Players Theatre, Mama’s Kitchen, United States Naval Academy Foundation and United Way of San Diego County.

Their designated recipients reflect their lives, ethics and faith.

"We’re responsible for other people and charity. We feel responsible because we’ve been blessed by the Lord. We need to pay back and support other people. Each of us has a responsibility to help each other all over the world."

Howe is a retired Navy Civil Engineer Corps captain. His assignments included the Seabees, building a new research station in the Antarctic in 1961/62, installing a nuclear power plant at McMurdo and being commander of Camp David during the Kennedy Administration.

The President had been popular with the camp staff and their families, and his assassination was very hard on the men and their families, Howe said.
Like many of his assignments, Camp David had a hand-picked crew, far removed from the desperate straits that many of the Howe Family Fund donations support.

Howe says he knows what it’s like to struggle.

"I grew up in the Depression. My family had the biggest jewelry store in Syracuse (N.Y.), and lost it during the Depression. We had no money in the 1930s."

Howe said "We never felt poor, my family was really great. We recognized there were always people less fortunate then we are."

He attended Rensselaer Institute in Rhode Island before entering the Naval Academy. Howe and Jo-an met at church before he became a midshipman. They dated for 5 years. They married and came to Coronado while he was assigned to USS Rogers, although most of his career was with the Seabees.

Naval service reinforced his feelings of being fortunate. "Looking at the way people live in third world nations makes you appreciate how much more we have," he said.

Sharing some of what they have has been part of the Howes’ lives for a long time.

"For 6 years we’ve donated in lieu of Christmas presents," he said. The Howes ask their children and grandchildren to give them names of charities. "They went on board very quickly and are very appreciative," Howe said of his family.

The Heifer Project shows up often on those lists, he said. The Heifer Project uses the money it receives to give livestock, ranging from ducks to cows, to families all over the world. The website, www.heifer.org, explains how even a small donation grows into major improvements in people¹s lives.

Good News Partners in Chicago is supported by the Howes because of the work they do and the fact their daughter is the chief operating officer of the organization.

Long time supporters of the Four Homes of Mercy, Howe said he and Jo-an were very impressed by the facilities when they visited on a trip to Israel. The Four Homes provide long-term care to the mentally disabled and also have a maternity home. Run by Christian Palestinians, the Four Homes serve mostly Muslim patients.

Having lived in other Middle Eastern countries, the Howes weren’t expecting much when they visited the Four Homes, and were pleasantly surprised.

They are also impressed by Church Army, an outreach of the Episcopal Church that works with people in the most desperate situations.

Closer to their own lives are the donations to Episcopal Community Services, the CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation, which helps support the CEC/SeaBee museum, and the donations to Lamb’s and Coronado SAFE.

"Some stays locally, most goes elsewhere in the world," Howe said of his donations.

When they decided to set up a foundation, "we looked at various things and decided the San Diego Foundation was the better vehicle for us," Howe said.

The Howes are just one of the Coronado families that contributes through The San Diego Foundation. Another new fund with Coronado ties is the Port of San Diego and San Diego Port Tenants Association, which has established the "Port with No Borders Scholarship Fund." The fund will provide scholarships for Port tenants, employees and their children in maritime, tourism, hospitality, environmental and international trade studies.

Coronado organizations that received grants from the San Diego Foundation include, The Coronado Hospital Foundation, Coronado SAFE, Lamb’s Players Theater and Sharp Healthcare Foundation.