The City of Long Beach officially announced Willie McGinest Day on May 3, 2002. The official announcement launched Willie's commitment to the City of Long Beach, the youth and his effortless support of education, always inspiring youth to strive for higher education. Willie intends to pursue this effort through the Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund, a donor advised fund, scheduled to launch in 2007. The mission of the Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund is to identify and support education, social needs, and sports activities of youth in inner city communities throughout the United States.
Driven by the philosophy instilled by the McGinest family, the focus of the Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund is simply stated as commitment to service, respect, and individual excellence. These principles provide the structure for grants from the Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund, to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people living in underserved and under-resourced communities.
Also, central to our philosophy is innovative and breakthrough thinking for effective programs that inspires and support minority advancement through education that effects positive and sustainable change in communities of color.
What is a Charitable Gift Fund (CHF)?
A CHF offers individuals and/or families the opportunity to make contributions to their own, possibly perpetual, charitable giving account at a public charity. The Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund is a CHF at the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, an independent public charity. Donation receipts are generally issued to the donors for the full value of the assets donated in the year the contribution is made.
A CHF enables individuals and families with philanthropic interests to plan their charitable giving over time and maximize its impact. Donors who choose to create a CHF can recommend grants to the charities of their choice, according to their wishes and timetables.
When contributing the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund for the Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund, you are considered a third party donor. This means your contribution is allocated to the Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund, and in turn Willie and/or his delegates recommend grants to various charitable organizations of his choice.
The Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund is a donor advised fund of the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, an independent public charity. The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund only makes grants recommended by Willie and/or his delegates to 501(c)(3) charities qualified by the IRS. Grants are not made to individuals or for-profit organizations. All checks should be made payable to the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, with reference in the memo line to the Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund.
For more information on the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and how it works, please click on the link: http://www.charitablegift.org/index.shtml
Previous grant recipients of Willie McGinest Charitable Gift Fund:
- Long Beach Poly High School Seniors Long Beach, CA
- Ability First – Long Beach Location, CA
- Success and Challenges School – Long Beach, CA
- John C. Wallace Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles, CA
- Beech Brook – Cleveland Ohio
- Long Beach Browns Pop Warner Football
2009 Honorees:
- Ms. Greta McGree – Long Beach, CA
- Mr. Keith Lilly