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| Palm Springs Charity Timetable |
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Coachella Valley Charity Timeline
By J. Tracy Hermann
1970
Irene W. & Guy L. Anderson Children’s Foundation is founded to fill unmet needs of children and teens in the valley. In 2005, the foundation doled out $575,000 to 29 agencies that cater to children.
March 1970
The Living Desert Reserve opens as a 360-acre wilderness preserve in Palm Desert after naturalist Edmund Jaeger, Desert Magazine Publisher Randall Henderson, and local rancher Philip Boyd convince Palm Springs Desert Museum to establish an interpretive trail and preserve.
November 1971
Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage opens with funding from the Desert Classic Golf Tournament and philanthropists on land donated by Bob and Delores Hope.
1972
Mr. and Mrs. Walter F. Probst make the single largest contribution at the time — $1 million — to open the Probst Medical Building on the Eisenhower Medical Center campus.
May 1973
A group of Coachella Valley business, education, and cultural leaders organize as Friends of the Cultural Center, which is ultimately responsible for the opening of the $22 million McCallum Theatre
in January 1988.
1991
The Cove Communities of Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and Indian Wells pledge $1.6 million as a matching gift to build the
Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert. The museum raised the additional $1.6 million from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Ambassador Walter and Leonore Annenberg donated land, and the museum opened in February 1998.
1993
Shelter From the Storm opens and is named in honor of Mary Stuart Rogers in recognition of her generous support.
1994
Joan Kroc donates $550,000 to build the HIV Health Center; and the Community Counseling and Consultation Center, formed 10 years earlier, becomes Desert AIDS Project. In 1995, Steve Chase coordinated the first annual fundraising gala, now the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards.
1994Steve Chase donates $1.5 million in seed money and 132 contemporary artworks to help Palm Springs Desert Museum (now Palm Springs Art Museum) begin building the Steve Chase art wing and educational center. With an additional $8 million raised by the museum, the wing opened in 1996.
November 1994
Palm Desert donates 200 acres of land for a permanent campus for California State University, San Bernardino.
April 1996
On the first anniversary of the opening of
Spa Casino, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians donate $1 million to a variety of local organizations. The tribe has made the annual donation a tradition.
November 1996
The nonprofit Palm Springs Air Museum opens. The museum houses one of the world’s largest collections of flying World War II military aircraft, courtesy of local collector Robert Pond, and thanks in part to contributions from local philanthropists and the Webb Foundation.
January 1998
Tim Esser organizes a charitable bike ride that attracts 400 riders and raises $20,000 for 20 organizations. With that success, he forms a nonprofit foundation and, in 1999, holds the first Tour de Palm Springs, which attracts 1,000 riders. This year, 7,000 riders participated, raising $200,000 and benefiting more than 100 organizations. The tour operates solely with volunteers.
2000
Shelter From the Storm opens the Edra Blixseth Community Counseling Center and Florence Rigdon Long Term Transitional Housing Program campus.
December 2000
Martha’s Village & Kitchen opens its $10 million Dan Dunlap Center offering shelter and comprehensive programs for homeless families. The center was built on 10 acres donated by Tom and Rita Martin with $250,000 from the Martins,
a $1.5 million commitment by Dan Dunlap, and a $2 million HUD grant.
March 2001
Richard Heckmann jumpstarts the Palm Desert campus of University of California, Riverside with a $6 million gift.
June 2001
Palm Desert contributes
$5 million to McCallum Theatre’s endowment fund.
December 2001
The Annenberg Foundation donates $25 million toward Eisenhower Medical Center’s 10-year, $290 million capital expansion project. The gift was the largest single gift to Eisenhower and stands as the largest charitable donation ever made in the Coachella Valley.
2002
The Mary Stuart Rogers Gateway Building — built with funds from the Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation, the Berger Foundation (which has donated more than $5 million through the years), the City of Rancho Mirage, and Florence Rigdon — opens to students at California State University, San Bernardino.
2002
Shelter From the Storm opens the Mary Heckmann School to give K-12 residents the opportunity to continue their education while at the shelter.
May 2003
The Greenburg Family Foundation donates $500,000 to the Desert AIDS Project Building Fund Campaign. Out of this donation, the Greenburg-Peet Family Center on the DAP campus in Palm Springs is duly named.
2004
Shelter From the Storm opens the Helen M. Reinsch Legal Clinic with a $1 million donation.
November 2006
Peggy and Donald Cravens donate $3.5 million for construction of a student services building at College of the Desert in Palm Desert. It is the largest individual contribution in COD history.
2007
With funding from Indian Wells, Shelter From the Storm opens the Indian Wells Medical Clinic at the shelter.
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