In keeping with our mission to offer constructive assistance to people in need, thereby helping them to lead more rewarding, responsible lives, Weingart Foundation made 386 grants totaling $38,069,654 to nonprofit agencies in Southern California during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2000.

Of the total, $14,931,644 went to programs designed to enhance the health, knowledge, skill, confidence, and self-esteem of children and youth. Funding was provided to programs that will expand traditional youth recreational agencies and efforts to prevent child abuse; offer crisis intervention in the lives of foster children and teenaged mothers; improve educational opportunities through capital grants to private schools; and broaden health care choices.

In addition, more than $4 million was granted to colleges and universities, primarily for capital building projects, expanding the capacity of our local private institutions of higher learning to deliver quality education. Partial funding was provided for a science center, an athletic and health center, and a campus commons.

Grants totaling $19,127,040 were made for programs that benefited the entire community, and were mainly directed to the under-served regardless of age. A wide variety of grants fell into this category, including programs to strengthen communities, expand access to health care, and enable museums and cultural centers to be more available to the general populace.

As is customary, the Board of Directors held its annual two-day planning retreat to review the Foundation's grant-making policies. We decided to continue awarding grants to credible agencies providing services to children and youth and to the greater community, thereby enriching the lives of the disabled, the homeless, the sick, the poor, or otherwise disadvantaged.

Agencies representative of programs funded by the Foundation are profiled in this report beginning on page four. A complete list of grants of $25,000 or more awarded during the year may be found beginning on page 20.

The Foundation's assets produced more than $58 million in income and capital gains, funding its grant commitments and providing for a reasonable growth of the corpus. The assets grew from $853 million at the close of 1999 to nearly $874 million at the end of 2000. Investment activity during the year was consistent with the Foundation's stated policy to administer the investment of the assets of the Foundation with the objective of assuring safety of principal and maximizing the investment return to the extent consistent with prudent management. The policy has produced a steady growth of the assets over the last several years. Financial highlights may be found on page 26.

This year, the Foundation mourned the passing of our highly esteemed board member Harry J. Volk. John H. Poag, long-time employee of Ben Weingart and a former President and board member of the Foundation, passed away this year as well. John ably served the Foundation for five years until his retirement in 1983.

I extend my thanks to all members of the Board for their dedicated work during the year and acknowledge the excellent support of our entire staff. Their work has benefited the lives of children and adults throughout Southern California.

Steven D. Broidy, Chairman