Game-changing gifts, a family history of philanthropy and more of the news worth noting in local nonprofits.
Gifts & Grants
The Arkansas Children’s Hospital Auxiliary announced an $8 million commitment to ACH’s $318 million expansion project.
In recent weeks, Little Rock Public Radio received two sums to support equipment upgrades and infrastructure repairs. After a transformative $100,000 gift last spring, an anonymous donor gave an additional $50,000 to support KLRE. Soon after, the Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable and Educational Trust awarded a $33,000 grant to aid both KUAR and KLRE.
The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation awarded $55,000 in grants to 20 nonprofits benefiting under-served communities including City Connections, Girls on the Run Central Arkansas, Life Skills for Youth, Our House and the Prison Yoga Project.
Wildwood Park for the Arts established the Lee Lee Doyle Memorial Fund in memory of longtime supporter and board member Katherine Lee “Lee Lee” Doyle. The fund will support Wildwood’s artistic and educational programming for young and early career artists.
UAMS received a $575,113 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study eye-tracking technology in assessing autistic children, as well as a $100,000 grant from the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation to support the work of Dr. Sue T. Griffin and the Joan Richards Taylor Alzheimer’s Disease Endowment Fund in the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.
High Praise
The nonprofit Diamonds Do Good presented its 2025 Community Impact Award to Sissy’s Log Cabin for its philanthropic involvement.
“For more than 50 years, giving back to the communities we serve has been central to who we are as a family and what we want our business to represent,” CEO Bill Jones says. “Being recognized alongside other incredible industry leaders and organizations dedicated to making a difference in their communities is truly an honor.”
Big Moves
Sajni Kumpuris, the Arkansas PBS education director and production director, was appointed the network’s interim executive director following the departure of Courtney Pledger.
Birch Tree Communities added Todd Curtis to its board of directors.
Home for Healing added three new board members: Jayson Krissell, Veronica Moore, Matt Naylor and Ross Townsend.