In the past decade, Modesto's Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation has spent more than $99 million, with many of those millions helping children, feeding the hungry and comforting the dying.
It's one of three heavyweights in local charitable giving, along with the Ernest Gallo Foundation and the Julio R. Gallo Foundation.
They provide something rare in the San Joaquin Valley: a stable base of nonprofit giving that supports arts groups, schools and community organizations.
A 2006 Irvine Foundation study showed that nonprofit giving in Stanislaus County far outpaced other valley counties. The Gallo and Rogers foundations were largely responsible for that charity.
"They inspire everyone else in the community to give as well," said Harold Peterson, chief executive officer of Community Hospice. "The big foundations are able to leverage others to step up and give, too. Everyone wants to be part of a winner. Their gifts generate other money."
A well-known example: The three foundations funded the $15 million endowment for the Gallo Center for the Arts, which provided the momentum Stanislaus County and other private donors needed to start building the $40 million venue.
Since it opened in fall 2007, more than 400,000 people have attended events at the Gallo Center. And more than 4,000 people have donated to the facility.
While the three foundations came together for the Gallo Center and have been strong supporters of Catholic institutions, they have taken different tacks in their philanthropy.
The Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation has spent millions on scholarships for students in elementary school through college in several states, including several hundred Rogers Scholars at California State University, Stanislaus.
Its giving also has been broad and deep, supporting Catholic schools, social service agencies, arts groups, and colleges and universities in several states.
"If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to continue with outreaches," said Cynthia Coughlin, executive director of Central West Ballet, which has benefited from $48,000 in contributions from the Julio R. Gallo and Mary Stuart Rogers foundations since 2005. "A lot of the other grants haven't come through, particularly in the last two years."
The money the ballet gets from the foundations helps it put on daytime performances for children -- shows that often are the students' first experiences with fine arts.
The Ernest Gallo Foundation has been more targeted in its contributions. It gave $800,000 to Notre Dame University, $600,000 to Stanford University and $3.835 million to the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, according to its 2008 return filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
Its giving has increased significantly since Ernest Gallo's death at 97 in March 2007, rising to $5.3 million in 2008. Prior to that year, his foundation kept its net assets around $22 million, and distributed $1 million to $2 million annually.
Its net assets swelled to $54.68 million, boosted by a $19.6 million contribution from the Ernest Gallo Trust, according to its 2008 return.
The Julio R. Gallo Foundation, which reported net assets of $22.08 million on its 2008 return, gave away $7.3 million from 2004 through 2008. During that time, its philanthropy in- cluded more than $1.6 million to St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Modesto and $286,000 to the Oregon State University Foundation.
The differences in how and where foundations spend money reflect their differing priorities, said former Mayor Carol Whiteside, founder of the Great Valley Center.
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