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Spirit of giving: Home Depot co-founder wants to help children

EMIGRANT — Arthur Blank made a huge
pile of money cofounding and building the
chain of Home Depot stores that spans
the country.

By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer

Now, as the new owner of the Mountain
Sky guest ranch, he wants to share the
wealth.

"My kids are well taken care of. My wife is
well taken care of," Blank said here last week in the lobby of his
new lodge. "I want to continue to make a difference in the lives of
people who haven’t been as fortunate."

Blank, who retired as cochairman of Home Depot last year, now
runs the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, an organization that,
along with his family’s "discretionary" fund, gave out $35 million to
nonprofit groups last year.

Since 1995, gifts have totaled $73 million.

Now that he owns property in southwest Montana, he wants to
help people here.

"We want to extend that reach to Montana, particularly in this
area," he said. "There are clearly a lot of needs in this area."

Although he funds everything from a new symphony hall in Atlanta,
Ga., to synagogues to zoos, his primary focus is on helping young
people gain the tools to build self esteem, self confidence and an
appreciation for people different from themselves.

His philanthropic philosophy is a fairly simple one, he said: He’d
rather give somebody a fishing rod than a fish. And a tool kit and a
set of instructions is better than toy box.

Teaching young people how to achieve on their own builds self
esteem, and that translates into all sorts of positive choices, he
said. People who feel good about themselves make better
decisions about a healthy diet, their studies and exercise.

"When people feel empowered, they look at the glass as half full
instead of half empty," he said.

He said he likes the self-esteem programs employed by groups like
Outward Bound.

That philosophy of helping young people get off on the right foot
"absolutely" makes sense, said Linda Reed, executive director of
the Montana Community Foundation, which administers 300
endowments for nonprofit groups.

She met last week with Blank and the members of his family who
serve on the foundation’s board and helped explain what people
need in this state, where per capita incomes are among the lowest
in the nation.

"The government has a growing inability to fund what we think of
as public services," Reed said. "The need always outstrips the
resources."

That’s where large donors like Blank and his foundation can make a
big difference.

"Having a new player in our state that wants to contribute is
always needed and welcome," Reed said.

Blank said he focuses his giving in geographic areas where his
family has a personal or business interest. He lives in Atlanta
(where he recently bought the Atlanta Falcons football team), so
he gives a lot of money there. Likewise for his native New York,
and Arizona and South Carolina, where family members live.

Now Montana is on the list.

He said he’s not interested in "doing the state’s job" of funding
public schools, but after-school programs have lots of needs. He’s
also interested in issues affecting women and girls, the
environment — though not necessarily advocacy groups, and
mechanisms to make non-profit groups stronger and more
effective.

"We like being involved in the middle as opposed to looking down
from the top of the mountain," he said. "We’d rather go deeper
than wider."

He has bought two neighboring parcels and expanded Mountain
Sky’s holdings to 5,500 acres. He said he fell in love with "the
people and the environment" after staying here for three years,
then bought the place.

Now he’s interested in opening it to people who can’t afford the
$3,000 weekly rate.

Groups like Big Brothers and Sisters, he said, could be invited to
the ranch for its riding and other facilities during the shoulder
seasons.

"It’s a wonderful place and one we want to share with as many
people as possible," he said.

Nonprofit groups seeking grants should go to the Foundation’s Web
site at http://www.blankfoundation.org.

"We welcome applications," Blank said.

Scott McMillion is at [email protected]

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