Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Farming Icon Donates Record $9 Million to Valley Children's
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 5 years ago on
May 29, 2020

Share

Contributed by Valley Children’s Healthcare

MADERA — The estate of LeRoy A. Giannini has donated nearly $9 million to Valley Children’s, in honor of LeRoy’s parents, Ruth E. and LeRoy G. Giannini. This is the largest single estate gift in the organization’s history.

“This is a truly remarkable day for Valley Children’s as we celebrate the extraordinary gift of nearly $9 million from the Giannini family,” said Todd Suntrapak, president/CEO of Valley Children’s Healthcare.

“This gift is a wonderful tribute to the family’s deep Valley roots, to their lifetime of caring for children and families, and to those children who we are privileged to care for at Valley Children’s today and for generations to come.”

Valley Farming Giants

For 124 years, the Giannini companies were farming giants in the Central Valley. LeRoy G. Giannini started farming at an early age on 20 acres. LeRoy was 16 when his father was killed in a train accident and, shortly after his high school graduation, he took over the family farming operation.

Under his innovative leadership and steady, hard work, the family business grew to more than 2,000 acres of nectarines and plums, along with a processing plant in Dinuba. At one time in the late 1970s, Giannini was the largest producer of nectarines in the world. Over the years, the family also raised cattle along the central coast.

“This gift is a wonderful tribute to the family’s deep Valley roots, to their lifetime of caring for children and families, and to those children who we are privileged to care for at Valley Children’s today and for generations to come.” — Todd Suntrapak, president/CEO, Valley Children’s Healthcare

Giannini was as generous as he was private. Over the course of his lifetime, he made sizeable contributions to support educational and faith-based organizations in his community but his gifts were not widely publicized.

Mr. Jim Burnett, a longtime friend and employee of Giannini and the trustee to his estate, shared that, over the years, Giannini paid for every Little League team in Dinuba that did not have a sponsor. For his employees and their family members, he would pay for life’s unexpected emergencies, pay to send their children to college, and cover funeral expenses for every employee or family member.

In Burnett’s words, Giannini was a remarkably generous man who ran his business as a family.

Leroy A. Giannini died July 3, 2018, at the age of 71.

New Outpatient Center Named in Family’s Honor

A new outpatient center planned for construction on the Valley Children’s Hospital campus in Madera will be named in honor of the Giannini family to serve as a powerful tribute to their generosity.

“We are grateful for the generosity and vision of the Giannini family and the transformational effect that their gift will have at Valley Children’s,” said Robert Saroyan, president of Valley Children’s Healthcare Foundation.

“This gift is the capstone of the Giannini family’s incredible tradition of philanthropy in the Valley. Their spirit of generosity and compassion for those in need in our community will live on with the naming of the future center.”

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

UP NEXT

Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees

Smittcamp Warns Fresno Supervisors About New Copper Theft Law. Bredefeld Wants to Take a Risk

12 hours ago

Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees

12 hours ago

‘World-Class Nightlife’: CA Lawmakers Try Again to Extend Last Call to 4 AM

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Enjoy closing down a California bar at 2 a.m.? By Yue St...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

‘World-Class Nightlife’: CA Lawmakers Try Again to Extend Last Call to 4 AM

11 hours ago

Fresno County Passes Ordinance to Punish Copper Wire Thieves

11 hours ago

Fresno Native Denise Whisenhunt Returns Home to Lead City College

12 hours ago

Smittcamp Warns Fresno Supervisors About New Copper Theft Law. Bredefeld Wants to Take a Risk

Border Patrol Sgt. Gregory Bovino
12 hours ago

Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees

12 hours ago

Eyewitnesses Recount Deadly Israeli Attack on Medics in Gaza

13 hours ago

How High Will the Thermometer Climb This Week in Fresno?

14 hours ago

Visalia Man Admits to Selling Machine Guns to Undercover Agent

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend