History

In 1975, when attorney Richard Feuille called together a small organizing committee to meet and eventually to found the El Paso Community Foundation, he could not have imagined that this small charity - which was initially set up in a tiny cubbyhole of an office in the El Paso National Bank Building - would grow and endure beyond the lifetime of the bank itself. Today the legacies of hundreds of donors have built our combined asset value to 100 million.

Defining moments in our history include:

2000s

• 2006: In 1987, the Foundation responded to community outcry and saved the Plaza Theatre from destruction. Nineteen years later, this 1930 atmospheric movie palace has been restored and adapted into a state-of-the-art performing arts center, due to the perseverance and commitment of the Foundation. The $40 million project was funded through a partnership between the El Paso Community Foundation and the City of El Paso. Click for The Plaza Theatre.
   
• 2006: The Foundation was acknowledged nationally for meeting the highest levels of ethical and operational integrity for community foundations. Eleven months, 38 required documents, and a collection of key elements that filled three 4-inch binders were required for the El Paso Community Foundation to receive Confirmation of Compliance with the National Standards from the Council on Foundations.
   
• 2001: The Foundation donated a large parcel of land and an aerial tramway once used to service the KTSM television station transmitter on the top of Ranger Peak to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as part of the Franklin Mountains State Park. read more »

1990s

• 1996: The Foundation joined with the Pew Charitable Trusts and Charles Clements, MD to address pressing public health hazards in colonias (poor rural neighborhoods) in Texas and New Mexico. The project, known as “WaterWorks,” has assisted these communities with construction of water and wastewater systems and hook-ups. read more »
   
• 1996: The El Paso Community Foundation planned and participated in the first border-wide binational conference on philanthropy. Major participants were members of the Council on Foundations, Washington, DC, Centro Mexicano Para la Filantropia, Mexico City, and national foundation funders from the United States and Mexico. A direct outcome of the conference was the establishment of the Border Philanthropy Project.

• 1990: Karl O. Wyler, Sr.’s death on December 20th struck a deep chord in the business community. Mr. Wyler owned the communications corporation, Tri-State Broadcoasting, which controlled KTSM, the NBC-TV and Radio affiliates and other associated companies in El Paso. In a bequest, he left 51 percent of the companies to the Karl O. and Glyn Wyler, Sr. Foundation, an affiliated foundation of the Community Foundation.

1980s

• 1988: The Foundation established a pioneering $1 million loan fund with five local banks that allowed lower valley colonia residents to hook up to running water. It was the first loan fund of its type in the State of Texas. read more »
   
• 1987: When the Plaza Theatre was threatened with demolition, the Foundation board and its donors took the lead in saving it by raising $1 million in six weeks. Later the Foundation gave the Theatre to the City of El Paso. read more »
   
• 1987: The Foundation was invited to be one the “Ford Foundation Eight”-8 midsized foundations trained as national role models for the fast growing community foundation world.
  

 

• 1981: Dorrance D. Roderick, former owner and publisher of the El Paso Times, left the first mayor bequest to the Community Foundation. “I won’t be here to see how this turns out, but I trust leaving my money to future El Pasoans,” he said.

                                     

1970s

• 1979: The IRS granted a Private Ruling Letter stating that the community served by the Community Foundation included Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. This action caused interest throughout the country and put the El Paso Community Foundation on the philanthropic map.