July 2019
Dr. Samuel Coppage
August is Black Philanthropy Month -- an opportunity to recognize the impact African American donors make through their generosity.

Black Philanthropy Month started in 2011 as an annual, global celebration of African-descent giving. This was a year before the W.K. Kellogg Foundation released its ground-breaking 2012 report on communities of color showing that:

  • 2/3 of African American households donate to organizations and causes annually.
  • African Americans give $11 billion a year in charitable donations.
  • On average, African American households give 25 percent more of their income annually than white households.

I enjoy working with a growing number of African American donors committed to advancing opportunities in our region through philanthropy. Our bequest donors include the late Dr. Sam Coppage Jr. (pictured here), who was a long-time Old Dominion University information technology professor. Sam grew up in Norfolk and returned there to teach after earning degrees from Virginia State University and New York University and working in New York City.

Sam passed away in 2014 at age 65 leaving a charitable bequest to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to help support Hampton University, his aunt's alma mater, and Tidewater Community College, where he served on the board. He also arranged to provide annual grants through the foundation to two Norfolk churches -- Grace Episcopal Church and Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Each year we send grant checks on behalf of Sam to these four institutions that meant so much to him and his family.

I hope you will join me in celebrating Black Philanthropy Month on August 13 at a 5:15 p.m. Hampton Roads Community Foundation reception and program at the Attucks Theatre in Norfolk. I know you will enjoy hearing keynote speaker Marsha Morgan of Birmingham. She chairs the Community Investment Network, a national network of giving circles and is a founder of the Birmingham Change Fund, a giving circle of African American professionals. Learn more and register for the event here .

I look forward to helping more diverse people create permanent funds to provide scholarships for students and grants to nonprofits. Let me know if I can be of help to you or your clients. And, I hope to see you on August 13.


Kay Stine, CFRE
Vice President for Development
Hampton Roads Community Foundation  
(757) 622-7951