Piper Trust Announces $4.3 Million in Grants

The Phoenix-based Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has announced grants totaling $4.3 million to nonprofits serving residents of Maricopa County.

Made from May through mid-September, the grants include a second three-year, $300,000 award to the Summer Youth Program Fund, a collaborative effort of local foundations to provide structured summer activities for underresourced youth, and $625,000 to Valley of the Sun United Way to expand the Adopt-A-Pool-Fence program to prevent children in low-income households from drowning.

The largest grant, $2.5 million over five years, was awarded to the Arizona State University Foundation to help recruit Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Lee Hartwell to Arizona to lead the Partnership for Personalized Medicine, which Piper established in 2007. Currently director of the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Hartwell will establish and co-direct the Center for Sustainable Health at the ASU Biodesign Institute.

Over the past five years, the Piper Trust has focused much of its efforts on serving the needs of older adults. To that end, the foundation awarded grants of $75,000 to the Experience Matters Consortium through the Arizona Community Foundation, its fiscal agent, to support its transition to a membership organization of community agencies fostering greater civic engagement among older adults; and $50,000 to Mesa United Way to place older adult volunteers in East Valley nonprofit agencies.

"We have found tremendous knowledge and expertise in this age group," said Mesa UW president Carol McCormick, "and willingness to take on service projects for strategic planning, management, and coordination activities."

For a complete list of recent 2009 grants, visit the Piper Trust Web site.

“Arizona State University and Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Tap Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Lee Hartwell to Lead Major Health Initiative.” Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Press Release 9/08/09.

“Piper Trust Awards Nearly $4.3 Million in Grants to Valley Nonprofits.” Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Press Release 9/16/09.

Primary Subject: Community Improvement/Development
Secondary Subject(s): Education, Children and Youth, Arts and Culture, Aging, Health
Location(s): Arizona, Maricopa County

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