Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
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The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation is an incorporated non-profit organization founded by philanthropists Harry Weinberg and his wife Jeanette Weinberg. Established in 1959, the foundation has given billions of dollars to aid those who have fallen into poverty or who have been forced to live with disability, failing health and advanced age. Harry Weinberg invested his wealth from business in Hawai'i to fund projects after his death in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Baltimore, Maryland and Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Throughout the Hawaiian Islands, many major civic and private buildings and complexes were named after Harry and Jeanette Weinberg. One of the largest projects named in their honor was the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu, Hawai'i, dedicated by Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and representatives of President of the United States George W. Bush in 2002. The Filipino Community Center is one of the largest ethnic and cultural centers in the United States. In addition, Harry and Jeanette Weinberg's names grace the entrances of notable care centers, educational facilities, hospitals, offices, schools among many others.
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation is administered by a Board of Trustees that at times includes members of the Weinberg family. Members are usually professionals residing in Honolulu and Baltimore.
[edit] Controversy
Harry Weinberg's life before he endowed Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation was controversial.[citation needed] He was a buyer of large tracts of distressed real estate in Baltimore, Honolulu and elsewhere.[citation needed] He refused to maintain the properties and they were often in terrible condition.[citation needed] He rented these properties to the poor and desperate. The term "slumlord" was heard often.[citation needed] Former Maryland politician William Donald Schaefer begged Weinberg to sell the properties so that they could be rehabilitated. He refused.[citation needed] In his other business practices, he was equally lacking in ethics.[citation needed] He purchased distressed transit systems in major cities and then ran them without maintenance.[citation needed] To force a fare increase from the city of New York, he once fired 29 disabled workers which triggered an expansive strike.[1]
