Monterey Bay Chapter Receives Trust DonationVery exciting news! Our chapter received notification last fall that we were one of the beneficiaries of the Jean B. May Trust Fund. In December, a check for $14,000 was distributed by the trust to our chapter.
Now, you may wonder, who is Jean B. May and why our chapter? Searching for clues, I called Population Connection’s national office, searched the Web, spoke with local activists and Jean’s bookkeeper, Mrs. Del Miller. As Mrs. Miller so eloquently recalled, Jean Bolton May was a wonderful woman who wanted to have her assets used for the benefit of others. Jean directed the trustee to give the following message to the charitable beneficiaries. “Beyond our gifts to family and friends, we are dedicating a substantial part of our estates to charitable beneficiaries. We are choosing to give to a few organizations in which we have participated and thereby have some special interest to assist further. Others were chosen because the specified organization is addressing an issue about which we feel particular concern. In each instance we trust our support gives a boost to the effort and purpose for which the organization exists.” Jean was a member of Population Connection since 1990. According to Del Miller, Jean believed in choice and population stabilization. Jean wanted her donations to benefit the local communities where she lived and worked. Sharp until the end, she even wrote her own obituary! Here is an excerpt: “Jean and her husband John lived for many years in Sausalito prior to moving to Villa Marin in 1984. In retirement Jean served as Chair of the Lone Mountain College board of directors, Bucklew Services in Marin County, and for six years as an active docent at the Strybling Arboretum in San Francisco and finally the Awards Committee of the San Francisco Foundation. Jean moved from Villa Marin to The Woods at Little River in 1999 with her longtime friend Jane Bradford, sharing a home and garden activity as well as continuing times at Sea Ranch. In 2002 she gathered family and friends for a celebration of living and sharing while she could be a part of it prior to her death.” Jean died at the age of 86 on June 20, 2003 at her home in Little River, California. The San Francisco Foundation Fall 2003 newsletter wrote this: “Jean Bolton May was a woman of many gifts who was dedicated to social justice. Early on she worked with young boys who were lost from their families during World War II. She then attended UC Berkeley and worked at the Internal Institute in San Francisco with Japanese war brides. Jean also developed a program at UCSF for hospitalized children and served for 11 years as the executive director of the Florence Crittenton Home for single pregnant girls. “While in San Francisco, Jean met and married John R. May. John was The San Francisco Foundation’s first executive director, serving at the Foundation for its first 26 years, from its inception in 1948 to 1974. John was a visionary leader, and his guidance helped to create the dynamic organization the community now depends on, the fifth largest community foundation in the country. John passed away in 1988. “During her final years, Jean wanted to create a lasting tribute to John and his leadership. She created a Charitable Remainder Trust with the purpose of establishing a unique award in John’s memory, a lasting tribute to his outstanding leadership ability.” We need membership input
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