OUR STORY

The McDonnell Family Foundation was founded by Jack and Pat McDonnell in Colorado in 2001. Both Jack and Pat grew up in tumultuous circumstances and persevered through difficult family dynamics. After years of hard work in the marketplace and successful entrepreneurial ventures, the McDonnell Family Foundation was born to serve children in at-risk situations: children who cannot help themselves.

The Foundation has empowered charity partners serving a broad set of those children since 2001. We have worked alongside adoption agencies, working to find forever homes for all children, but especially those with special needs or those close to “aging out of the system.” We have supported the critical research and treatment of bone cancers and other forms of aggressive cancer in an attempt to save limbs, lives, and childhoods. We have resourced scholarship and support funds for the children of our fallen warriors and law enforcement agencies. Throughout this time, our goal has been to intervene for those whose voices cannot be heard.

Traditionally, the Foundation has partnered with charity groups in Colorado, California, Ohio, and Indiana – states where board members have resided and served with their time and expertise. Though we have established no geographical restrictions on grant requests, we typically have married our financial grants with investments in time and attention. We seek not only to support partners with our own financial grants, but also to bring aboard other investors and philanthropists into the work that we support. 

The Board of Directors is co-chaired by Jack and Pat McDonnell to this day, and they continue to provide direction and personal attention to every grant request that we receive. Their legacy has and will continue to inspire service and community investment from other members of the extended McDonnell Family and the rest of the Board of Directors.