When philanthropist of the year Paul Douglas was growing up, he watched his father throw out his back every winter while helping people shovel their cars out of the Ohio snow. “It happened every year, like clock-work. That’s kind of where it started for me,” Paul said.
Paul, a member of the board of the Zach Gordon Teen Club and United Human Services of Southeast Alaska, started the Douglas-Dornan Foundation Fund to support projects important to community members. The Fund —established in 1994 in honor of Paul’s son, Brian, and his wife, Wythe Dornan, who died in a car accident—makes grants to about 15 local projects a year, most of them youth oriented.
Now in its 21st year of grant making, the donor advised Fund continues to grow at the Juneau Community Foundation. For Paul, making grants to projects that can change lives fuels his own excitement about the community. “I get a big kick out of doing it. It’s just fun.”
Listen to His Story
“I learned that if you have something that you can share with others, it’s good to do that.”
“Our focus is on the health, education, and welfare of people in Southeast Alaska, with a special focus on youth. They get first dibs in our hearts and minds.”
