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Inside
Bay Area
September
27, 2006
OAKLAND
-- Dr. Melvin Lee Makower first approached the East Bay Community
Foundation in the mid-1980s with a $100 donation and a commitment
to help the group in its efforts to build communities.
During
the years, the Berkeley-based pediatric surgeon continued
his relationship with the foundation, frequently meeting with
its directors and promising to add the group to his will.
Foundation
leaders appreciated Makower's attention and dedication, but
they never thought his final act of kindnesswould result in
a $2.7 million endowment -- the largest unrestricted donation
ever handed to one of the East Bay's oldest foundations.
"I
had no sense his estate would be as large as it is," said
Michael Howe, East Bay Community Foundation president. "He
was not somebody who was seen as a major philanthropist."
Makower's
donation will be placed in the foundation's unrestricted fund,
meaning it can be used for whatever purpose the group feels
is appropriate. Makower's only request was that the money
be used for children's programs.
That
donation was added Tuesday to the group's $16 million unrestricted
account. The foundation, which has a $46.2 million invested
endowment and more than $260 million in charitable assets,
annually gives out $22 million.
It
supports a wide range of organizations, from public schools
to environmental groups.
As
long as children benefit, how Makower's donation is spent
is up to the foundation. "That was his only stipulation,"
Howe said.
Makower,
who worked as a pediatrician in Berkeley, died in 1996 at
age 81. His wife, Maurine, died last year.
Howe
said the foundation knew it was going to get an estate gift
from the Makower family.
"We
knew we were going to get his legacy gift but we did not know
the value of it," he said. "It was a nice surprise."
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