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Children’s Museum Announces Latest Donations Near $1. 5 Million

April 20, 2007—Five major donations totaling $1,450,000 have been promised to the Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego’s Capital Campaign, according to Laurie Mitchell, president of the Museum ’s board of directors.

The Museum is raising funds for its new structure, a 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building. Vertical construction began on the new facility last June and the grand opening is planned for early 2008.

According to Mitchell, the goal of the Capital Campaign is to raise $28 million. The largest portion of this, $25 million, is funding the construction of the new downtown facility and the remaining $3 million will be held as an endowment to help fund the day-to-day operations of the Museum.

The largest portion of the recent donations, an anonymous gift of $1,000,000, was made by a San Diego family.

Museum board of directors member Sarah Dolgen Ghanem and her husband Shahi Ghanem, Coronado residents, generously gifted $200,000, and a first-floor space will be named the Sarah and Shahi Ghanem Gallery. The conceptual art installations in the Sarah and Shahi Ghanem Gallery will play off of children’s innate curiosity and inquisitiveness and encourage children to think, ask questions and respond.

The board of directors co-vice president and secretary, Patsy Marino and her husband David, residents of La Jolla, donated $100,000. The Marino Family Gallery will be a versatile space for temporary exhibitions that emphasize social and cultural diversity.

Likewise, Sheryl White, board of directors co-vice president and treasurer, and her husband Harvey, residents of Del Mar, also contributed $100,000. The Museum School’s library located on the lower level of the facility will be named the Sheryl and Harvey White Foundation Library in their honor. The library will offer a vast assortment of child-friendly reading material and a comfortable atmosphere to enjoy it in.

The San Diego-based Irving Hughes Group, a full-service commercial real estate company, gifted the Museum with $50,000. Jason Hughes, company co-founder, was the Museum ’s 2006 board of directors president and is currently a board member.

In addition to these new donations, the Sulpizio family donated $250,000 to the Museum last month. The Sulpizio Family Toddler Space will be a multisensory, exploratory environment for children beginning to walk or crawl. Lorri Sulpizio is a Museum  board member and mother of two.

While individual and corporate donations have contributed greatly to the effort, other sizable gifts from the Jacobs family, $5 million, and Leap Wireless, $1 million, have put the campaign that much closer to its goal. Funds also have been raised through the sale of commemorative tiles. Donations are still being sought and contributions can be made on-line or by phoning the Capital Campaign Director Carolyn Clark at 619 233 8792 x107.