Rich Archbold: Philanthropy helped build Long Beach, but the younger generations are reinventing it

From affluent donors similar Adelaide Tichenor from a period agone to existent time donors similar a grandma who gave $25 to nonstop a kid to campy and wished she could bash more, Long Beach has ever been a giving city.

“It is unthinkable however the assemblage continues to travel unneurotic to enactment truthful galore worthy causes done volunteering and philanthropic contributions,” said Julie Meenan, enforcement manager of the Josephine S. Gumbiner Foundation and laminitis of Long Beach Gives, which volition clasp its 3rd yearly fundraising thrust Sept. 23.

Last year, residents contributed $1.7 cardinal to the Long Beach Gives run to assistance nonprofit organizations service radical during the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s extremity is $2 million.

That campaign, successful a way, honors 1 of Long Beach’s large legacies: Generations of residents person been generous successful helping organizations service the assemblage implicit the decades.

But subtle changes are happening present successful the mode younger radical privation to assistance retired successful the assemblage — with their clip and wealth — compared to their parents and grandparents.

“Younger donors are reinventing what it means to bash good, not conscionable to the aforesaid organizations their parents person supported but to the broader community,” Meenan told maine past week. “They thin to springiness to causes, similar intelligence health, societal justice, the unhoused, the environment, LGBTQ and carnal care, they are passionate astir done organizations they cognize are making a difference.”

Marcelle Epley, president and CEO of the Long Beach Community Foundation, said galore Gen Xers and millennials besides are spending overmuch much clip volunteering than contributing existent monetary donations.

“This could beryllium a superior contented for charities successful the aboriginal who whitethorn request to alteration their labour exemplary and get acceptable for a antithetic benignant of support,” she said.

Epley and Meenan spoke aft the past successful a bid of 3 sheet discussions highlighting the Community Foundation’s 25th anniversary, which explored the topic, “A City That Philanthropy Built: Celebrating the Past, Present & Future of Charitable Giving successful Long Beach.”

Previous discussions talked astir iconic buildings similar the Walter Pyramid connected the Cal State Long Beach campus, which was built with generous donations from galore people, including 1 from Mike and Arline Walter. Other buildings included immoderate astatine the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, the First Congregational Church, the Long Beach Day Nursery, the Tichenor Orthopedic Clinic and galore others.

“So the adjacent clip you are driving, biking oregon scooting passim the city, you’ll person much of an appreciation of the interaction that philanthropy and charitable giving has connected our city,” Epley said.

Last week’s sheet discussion, focusing connected the aboriginal of charitable giving, was moderated by Epley and Richard Tollefson, laminitis of the Phoenix Philanthropy Group. Tollefson said that caller and younger radical were moving into enactment positions.

“One size does not acceptable all,” helium said, asking panelists however the relation of younger generations could beryllium optimized.

Sumer Temple, vice president of the Don Temple Family Charitable Foundation, said 1 of the answers was to prosecute young radical more.

“They privation to get their hands dirty,” she said. “They request to beryllium approached for their clip and expertise, not conscionable the wealth they tin give. They privation a spot astatine the table. They don’t privation to beryllium a rubber stamp.”

Her dada gave overmuch backmost to the city, Temple said, “and inspired maine to find my ain way to assistance others.”

Tasha Hunter, Long Beach Cultural Heritage commissioner, CSULB College of Arts lecturer and erstwhile president of the Long Beach Arts Council, said the displacement successful taste cognition needs “a communal level of respect” involving each people, young and old.

“Older radical tin beryllium helped by the younger generation,” she said. “You can’t clasp connected to the baton forever. It needs to beryllium shared. My procreation wants to cognize that their wealth is going to circumstantial causes.”

Hunter talked astir the request for societal activism, “giving a dependable to the voiceless.”

Sentari Minor, seat of Adelante Healthcare and caput of strategy for evolvedMD successful Phoenix, said the accepted exemplary of philanthropic giving remained valid but needed immoderate adjustments, similar making enactment roles astatine nonprofits much inclusive.

In summarizing, Epley said she believes the adjacent procreation of philanthropists volition perpetrate immoderate information of their discretionary income to charity, “but the anticipation to springiness to foundation that existed with the Boomers and generations earlier them is not arsenic strong.”

The willingness to springiness clip is overmuch stronger with younger generations, she said.

“That’s a precise important displacement that charities should commencement reasoning astir now,” Epley said. “Start reasoning astir however to grip the imaginable for little monetary income and much clip contributions.”

The panelists provided absorbing penetration into the aboriginal of philanthropy successful Long Beach.

In the meantime, don’t hide the contiguous needs of nonprofits. Do what you tin to enactment successful the Long Beach Gives run Sept. 23. Information: longbeachgives.org.

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