The Texas Botanical Gardens & Native American Interpretive Center recently was awarded a grant in the amount of $250,000 by The Meadows Foundation for the completion of Phase I of our project – The Texas Botanical Gardens. This generous grant provided by The Meadows Foundation supplements local and area donations allowing us to break ground in March with a completion date of March 2014.
More About The Meadows Foundation
Algur H. Meadows established General American Oil Company of Texas in 1939 and led it to become one of the nation’s most successful independent oil and gas production companies. The success of GAO provided Meadows and his wife, Virginia, the financial resources to support charitable organizations throughout Texas.
Believing that their lives had been richly blessed, the couple established The Meadows Foundation in 1948 to benefit the people of Texas. In doing so, they stipulated that the Foundation’s philanthropy would continue in perpetuity under the guidance of family members and trusted advisors.
The Meadows legacy has contributed greatly to enriching the lives of countless Texans in the areas of arts and culture, civic and public affairs, education, health, and human services. The Foundation has also developed current grantmaking initiatives in support of public education (particularly in the areas of early child development, enhanced reading and math instruction, and teacher and administrator preparation), mental health, and the natural environment.
Hoping to develop a philanthropic spirit among high school and middle school students, the Foundation has awarded in excess of $3 million over the past 30 years to over 500 schools in Texas whose students planned and carried out community service projects.
Since its inception, The Meadows Foundation has disbursed in excess of $760 million in grants and direct charitable expenditures to over 3,000 Texas institutions and agencies. Grants have been awarded both in large urban areas and small rural communities and in every Texas county. The Foundation looks for programs and services that employ imaginative, innovative ways to solve community problems through projects leading to organizational self-sufficiency and in capital plans that enable agencies to flourish.
Among its philanthropic initiatives, the Foundation established the Wilson Historic District in 1981 and has invested over $80 million to create and maintain this unique 22-acre nonprofit campus. As many as 39 nonprofit agencies are provided rent-free office space and access to management and technical assistance in restored historic buildings and new structures. The District, the first of its kind in the nation, is considered a benchmark for historic preservation and a model project in which to house nonprofit agencies. It has earned national, state, and local landmark designations.
The Meadows Foundation is among the most recognized private philanthropies in the country, both for its grantmaking practices and for its active engagement in advancing the field of private philanthropy. For additional information, visit The Meadows Foundation at mfi.org.