When retired UCLA professor Glenn Langer went to a science fair at Los Angeles' Lennox Middle School in 1996, he didn't expect to give away a substantial portion of his life savings, the Associated Press reports.
When Langer found out that the same children he was so impressed with had less than a fifteen percent chance to go on to college, however, the former UCLA cardiac researcher knew he had to do something.
Asking the school to pick out seven bright but underprivileged seventh graders, Langer gave them each $8,600 over the next six years to pay for books, calculators, mentoring expenses, field trips and tuition at private high schools, AP reports.
The gifts worked so well he decided to do it again each year for the next three years, resulting in a group of 29 young scholars. Unfortunately, Langer is on a limited income, and this year's group may be the last unless funders step forward to take over the program.
"I've applied to over 20 big foundations and been rejected by them all," Langer told AP. "They say their grant-making has to be focused on programs or projects that address needs on a national, regional or statewide level.
"On the other hand, when we go to community-based foundations, they reject us because they don't take funding requests for more than one year at a time. We're in a Catch-22 situation."
Langer has pledged to keep looking for sponsors in his community. So far, a local company and some private individuals have agreed to sponsor nine of the children. Langer and his wife pay for the other 20, and have set up a trust fund to continue the awarded scholarships after he and his wife die.
The scholarships are administrated by the school through a volunteer advisory council, AP reports. Donations are tax-deductible, and all money goes to the children.
At least one nonprofit group has stepped up to help Langer in his quest. Peter Manzo, executive director of the Center for Nonprofit Management in Los Angeles has offered Langer his assistance in fundraising, AP reports.
Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=
/news/archive/1999/10/14/state1339EDT0014.DTL
