$5M donation establishes Bridgewater’s School of Arts and Humanities
A 1962 alumna of Bridgewater College has made a $5 million donation that will establish the Bonnie Forrer and John Harvey Rhodes School of Arts and Humanities, named for the donor and her late husband. The private college’s first named and endowed school will combine its existing communications, fine arts and literature divisions with its […]
Averett University hires VP for philanthropy
Averett University announced Wednesday it has hired Melissa Wohlstein as vice president for philanthropy, effective Tuesday. Wohlstein has nearly 20 years of experience in higher education settings. She most recently served as the associate vice president of development at Hollins University. “With her existing connections to Virginia and her commitment to Averett’s mission, she will [&hel[...]
Stride selects 47 recipients for new scholarship program
Herndon-based online education provider Stride Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.) announced last week it has selected 47 recipients for the first round of its $10 million investment to provide education options for underserved Black students. The funding was disbursed through Stride’s We Stand Together Scholarships program, which was first announced in September 2020. The first cohort […]
Altria donates $3M to Better Housing Coalition
The Richmond-based nonprofit Better Housing Coalition (BHC) announced Monday it has received the largest corporate gift in its 33-year history — a $3 million gift from Henrico County-based Fortune 500 tobacco product manufacturer Altria Group Inc. BHC plans to use the donation to develop more affordable housing in the greater Richmond region. It will also […]
Wells Fargo makes $1.5M donation for small business loans
Wells Fargo & Co., Virginia’s third-largest bank by 2019 deposits, announced Thursday it has donated $1.5 million to Richmond-based nonprofit Virginia Community Capital (VCC) to help local minority and/or woman-owned small businesses stay open and save jobs amid the pandemic. During the next two years, the VCC will disburse $1 million of the funding in […]
Dominion Energy makes $1M donation to Virginia 4-H
Dominion Energy Inc. has donated $1 million to Virginia 4-H, a nonprofit educational program for youth hosted by Virginia Tech, the university announced Thursday. The donation marks the largest cash gift in the history of the state’s largest youth organization. Virginia 4-H educational centers serve more than 13,000 campers each summer, nearly 18,000 youth participate […]
Amazon makes $340M commitment to Arlington affordable housing
Amazon.com Inc. announced Wednesday that it is committing nearly $340 million to affordable housing efforts in Arlington, where the e-commerce giant is establishing its $2.5 billion East Coast HQ2 headquarters. This is part of the company’s $2 billion commitment to affordable housing, the Housing Equity Fund, which was announced Wednesday. The remaining funding will go […]
Dominion announces $10M scholarship program for minority students
Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc. announced Wednesday a six-year, $10 million initiative to provide scholarships to minority students who reside in the company’s service area, which includes Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina. This year, Dominion will award $500,000 in scholarships among 60 recipients through its Educational Equity Scholarship Program. “As we witness[...]
Goodwill of Central and Coastal Va. receives $10M gift
Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia announced Tuesday it has received a $10 million grant from novelist MacKenzie Scott, who has donated more than $4.2 billion across 384 organizations during the past four months. Scott is the former wife of Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos. The gift will help Goodwill provide job-readiness training to people […]
VCU and VCU Health receive $24M gift
The C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Foundation has donated $24 million to Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health, the university announced Friday. The gift was made in honor of the late C. Kenneth “Ken” and Dianne Wright, who died in 2019 and 2013, respectively. They were longtime supporters of VCU and VCU Health, with philanthropic […]
Samaritan House receives $1.25M Bezos-funded grant
Virginia Beach-based Samaritan House has received a $1.25 million grant from the Day 1 Families Fund, which was launched in 2018 by Amazon.com Inc. founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the organization announced Wednesday. Samaritan House is one of 42 nonprofits across the country (and the only Virginia nonprofit) to receive a grant in the $2 […]
Smithfield Foods commits $300K to support STEM initiative
Smithfield Foods Inc. has announced it plans to commit $300,000 through 2021 to support Heritage STEM Camps Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that creates immersive experiences for aspiring leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The Smithfield-based company’s contribution will support Heritage’s mid-Atlantic efforts to boost levels of self-confidenc[...]












