For Immediate Release
Thursday, October 22, 2009

Los Altos, Calif. -- The David and Lucile Packard Foundation intends to commit up to $100 million for the expansion of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. This will be the lead gift in the Hospital’s campaign to add 104 new beds to its Palo Alto campus and expand access to state-of-the-art treatments for local children.

“This gift is an investment in our children’s health, today and in the years to come,” says Carol Larson, president of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. “As a foundation born out of Silicon Valley, we are committed to making the Bay Area a healthy place for kids to grow up, as well as an innovator in pediatric medicine. That vision is at the heart of the Hospital’s expansion, and we are proud to help make it possible.”

Half of the $100 million total will be designated as a challenge to the philanthropic community to invest in the expansion of Packard Children’s Hospital. The Packard Foundation Match will be a 1:2 challenge grant, with every two dollars given by a donor earning one dollar of the match.

“My mother would be incredibly proud of the growth we’ve seen at the Children’s Hospital,” says Susan Packard Orr, chair of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. “We are pleased to carry on her legacy by supporting the next phase of the Hospital’s development, but we also see this gift as a call to action for our peers.    We need the community to join us if we are going to make a real difference in children’s health care.”

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private family foundation created in 1964 by David Packard (1912–1996), cofounder of the Hewlett-Packard Company, and Lucile Salter Packard (1914–1987). The Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the following program areas: Conservation and Science; Population and Reproductive Health; and Children, Families, and Communities. The Foundation makes national and international grants and also has a special focus on the Northern California Counties of San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. Foundation grantmaking includes support for a wide variety of activities including direct services, research and policy development, and public information and education. The Foundation does not make grants intended to influence legislation or support candidates for political office. Foundation assets were approximately $4.65 billion as of December 31, 2008 and grant awards totaled approximately $342 million in 2008. The Foundation expects grantmaking awards of up to $276 million in 2009.

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Contact:

Catherine England
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
650.917.7122
cengland@packard.org