The great giveaway
The John O'Quinn Foundation plays Santa with $500,000 gift to the Children'sAssessment Center
The Children's Assessment Center captial campaign gets a major boost from theJohn M. O'Quinn Foundation.
John M. O'Quinn Foundation president Rob Wilson, from left, joined Children'sAssessment Center capital campaign chairman Brady Crosswell, center directorElaine Stolte and development director Jill Buja at the center.
Before his death, famed trial lawyer John O'Quinn was a loyal supporter of the Children's Assessment Center, providing so much financial support that the site in Rice Village is named The John O'Quinn Campus. Even after his death, the legacy continues with the John M. O'Quinn Foundation having just contributed $500,000 to CAC.
That is the largest gift that the foundation has made to any nonprofit since O'Quinn's death in a car accident in 2009.
"John O'Quinn cared very deeply about the plight of abused children," said Rob Wilson, president of the foundation. The prepared statement continued, "We are honored that we can continue his legacy by supporting the Children's Assessment Center."
Wilson told CultureMap that the foundation has continued to distribute funds "just as we have in the past. There is no new plan for distribution." The board continues to accept grant requests and evaluate them as it did when O'Quinn was alive, he said.
The John M. O’Quinn Foundation announced a total of $1,090,000 in grants to more than a dozen non-profit organizations. In addition to the $500,000 to CAC, the foundation donated $180,000 to First Baptist Church in Pollock, La., and $100,000 to The Joy School in Houston.
Other grant recipients include Arrow Child & Family Ministries; Clayton Dabney Foundation for Kids; Dress for Success; Legacy Community Health Services; March of Dimes; Mental Health America of Greater Houston; The Menninger Clinic; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Pathways for Little Feet; Texas Heart Institute; and Yellowstone Academy.
Wilson explained that the foundation’s gift to the Children’s Assessment Center capital campaign is earmarked for Phase II of the John M. O’Quinn Campus. To date, the foundation has given $4.6 million for the campus on Bolsover.
The current capital campaign and expansion will allow additional partner agencies to locate in-house. Already, the campus houses offices of the Houston Police Department, Crime Stoppers and the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The center provides services to nearly 5,000 sexually-abused children each year in collaboration with 45 partner agencies.
In a prepared statement, Elaine Stolte, CAC executive director, said, "John has made it possible for the Children's Assessment Center to provide hope and healing to so many children in need. His willingness to embrace and provide support to this innovative program will live on in the lives of the many children he has rescued from abuse."
