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The grants will be disbursed to over 100 Social Service Agencies in Kaiser’s hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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The George Kaiser Family Foundation announced this week their plans to provide more than $8.6 million in basic services grants. The grants will go to at least 100 social service agencies, all of them situated in Tulsa.
According to a news release issued by the foundation, slightly more than half of the grants, around $4.5 million will be allocated to support human service organizations whilst a further $1.5 million will be set aside to provide support for a number of community health initiatives in Tulsa.
Ken Levit, executive director of the George Kaiser Family Foundation announced details of the grants to provided, explaining that the organizations to be awarded the grants have been chosen specifically because they provide critical services to Tulsans who struggle with a variety of needs, including food, health, education, housing and other basic needs.
“The foundation is dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in Tulsa, and we are pleased to present these grants to assist organizations as they work to improve the lives of Tulsans in need in 2014 and beyond.” Mr Levit’s statement went on to illustrate.
George Kaiser was born and raised in Tulsa Oklahoma, After graduating with a B.A. from Harvard College in 1964 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School two years later, Kaiser joined Kaiser-Francis Oil , the company owned by his family, going on take control of the running of the company just three years later, when aged just 27.
In 1990, Kaiser acquired the Bank of Oklahoma, from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
George Kaiser is particularly well known for his philanthropy, through the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Among the prominent causes he is involved in supporting the Jewish community in Oklahoma, which currently numbers around 5, 000 people.
The Kaiser Family Foundation remains the largest contributor to the Tulsa Community Foundation, which Kaiser established more than fifteen years ago, and has grown to become the largest community foundation in the United States, with an estimated four billion dollars in assets.
George Kaiser figures high on the list of the top 50 American philanthropists, as well as being among those who have made a commitment to the Giving Pledge, in which he undertakes to give away half of his wealth for charitable purposes
