A roundup of notable gifts compiled by the Chronicle:
Fund for the School District of Philadelphia
Brian and Aileen Roberts and their family donated $5 million to provide laptops to Philadelphia students so they can begin learning from home by mid-April.
The money will pay for 50,000 laptops to ensure that all students who attend the 220 public schools in the district have the tools they need to learn at home.
Brian Roberts is the billionaire chairman and CEO of the telecommunications conglomerate Comcast Corporation, which was co-founded by his late father, Ralph Roberts. Aileen Kennedy Roberts is vice chairman of the Barnes Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Providence Portland Medical Foundation
Nancy Lematta gave $2 million to aid Providence Health and Services in its efforts to fight the Covid-19 outbreak.
Lematta serves on the board of the medical foundation. Her late husband, Wes Lematta, founded Columbia Helicopters in 1957. He died in 2009. Nancy Lematta was chairman of the board of the aircraft manufacturer until stepping down in 2014.
The couple gave Providence $1 million for cancer research in 2003.
Dream Maker Fund
Patti and Eric Poppe donated $1 million to the Dream Maker Small Business Emergency Relief Fund, which is run by the Jackson Community Foundation and the Enterprise Group of Jackson, an economic-development organization in Michigan.
Patti Poppe is president and CEO of Consumers Energy, a public utility company in Jackson, Mich. Eric Poppe is an engineer for General Motors at the corporation’s Milford Proving Ground, an automobile testing facility in Milford, Mich.
Flexport.org
Paul Graham gave $1 million to pay for protective supplies for San Francisco hospital workers.
Graham is a computer scientist and technology entrepreneur who co-founded the start-up accelerator and seed-capital firm Y Combinator.
Massachusetts General Hospital
James and Kim Taylor donated $1 million to back Mass. General’s ongoing efforts to battle the escalating coronavirus pandemic.
The money will be directed to the MGH President’s Emergency Response Fund, which was established in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing to provide flexible resources to support immediate needs.
James Taylor is a well-known singer and songwriter who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. His late father, Isaac, was a physician who served as chief resident at the hospital and conducted research there. He died in 1996.
Kim Taylor has served on the board of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children for the past five years. She formerly directed public relations and marketing for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
To learn about other big donations, see our database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated throughout the week.
