Remembering Stanford: John Stanford would be thrilled to know someone is taking good care of his kids.
For the third month in a row, private donors have given the Seattle school district at least $1 million in honor of the popular superintendent, who died in November after a seven-month battle with leukemia.
Roger and Annette Rieger, longtime supporters of the Seattle schools, responded to a call to action from Mr. Stanford’s son at a Dec. 2 memorial service. The couple said they decided right then and there to give money to help needy students in grades K-12.
The $1 million, pledged last month, will be paid out over 10 years, said Joel Groen, the vice president of development of the Alliance for Education. The organization is working to reform education in Seattle and serves as the district’s fund-raising arm.
The Riegers’ donation follows a $1 million gift given in October by philanthropist Craig McCaw to be used for a reading program, and $1.5 million received in November from Don Nielsen, a member of the school board, and his wife, Melissa. The Nielsens’ donation will be used for an endowment and staff development.
Those funds do not include money given in Mr. Stanford’s name to buy some 600,000 new books. The Stanford Book Fund was started last April as a “get well” present following the diagnosis of Mr. Stanford’s illness.
Mr. Stanford, a retired U.S. Army general and the district’s first black superintendent, had served in the position since 1995.
Touchdown: The pending sale of the Washington Redskins will benefit college students and their alma maters, thanks to the generosity of the pro-football team’s late owner.
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Jack Kent Cooke, who died in April 1997, specified in his will that the team should be sold and that 90 percent of the net proceeds from the sale should be used to set up the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in Virginia, said Mike McCall, the spokesman for the Washington Redskins. The foundation will award merit-based scholarships to college students pursuing postgraduate degrees, as well as matching gifts to the college or university departments from which the students graduated.
Three businessmen have offered to buy the Redskins for $800 million. The deal must first be approved by three-quarters of the team owners in the National Football League.
--Julie Blair jblair@epe.org
