H.N. and Fraces Berger Foundation hits $3 million milestone with Spotlight Grants
Nov. 13 is CBS Local 2’s live $3 million dollar milestone show. The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation giving away their three millionth dollar spotlight grant to one lucky organization.
“In their early days, they loved giving scholarships to nurses and students at schools and stuff and then it just… from there it went to churches, and education, and hospitals and then we… upon Mr. Berger’s death, we then began to do a lot of different charity aspects,” said Christopher McGuire, vice president of programs for the Berger Foundation.
The H.N. and Frances C. Berger made a fortune from property investments throughout their lives. After their deaths, a foundation in their name used that money to give back to philanthropic organizations.
Check some of the recent recipients of the Coachella Valley Spotlight Grant
“They left quite a bit of money. Since their death till today, we’ve been able to almost triple that amount of money,” McGuire said.
Doug Vance is the vice president of real estate for the Berger Foundation. He is in charge of real estate investments that make that happen.
“We’ve gone across the United States in buying up specific well searched out investments for good returns so that the income on the real estate continues to grow the foundation,” Vance said.
For the last ten years, CBS Local 2 and the Berger Foundation have worked together to help local non-profits through the Coachella Valley Spotlight Grant.
Every year, qualified organizations can apply to be one of the $25,000 grant recipients. The advisory board of local leaders selects twelve lucky nonprofits that are featured each month.
“A good application would be in our geographic area in the Coachella Valley. It would be a small to a mid-size organization that we feel in 6 or 12 months we could make a difference and the money would go straight to the recipients of the organization,” said Catharine Reed, program director for the Berger Foundation.
“Our greatest asset we that we have is our airtime and our viewership that we have and by giving this amount of viewership to these nonprofits, it raises awareness for them, along with the investment. It just makes them more successful. that’s what we want,” said Jerry Upham, general manager of Gulf California Broadcast.
Together, CBS Local 2 and the Berger Foundation have been able to assist more than 100 local nonprofits. The foundation’s president and CEO Ron Auen says H.N. and Frances C. Berger would have been happy with the work we do together.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done over the years. We’ve accomplished our mission and continue to accomplish our mission,” Auen said.
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Noticias en español: Telemundo 15
