Foster youth endowment established
Former LA County supervisor donates $79K to Foundation
LANCASTER — Former Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich donated $79,100 to the Antelope Valley College Foundation to establish the Michael D. Antonovich Foster Youth Scholarship Endowment to support educational opportunities.
He represented the 5th District, including the Antelope Valley, on the Board of Supervisors for 36 years, before he termed out of office in 2016. The donation came from the Michael D. Antonovich Charitable Foundation. He formed the foundation more than 20 years ago to encourage the adoption and foster care of abused and neglected children and provide resources to adoptive and foster families.
“Over the years, our Foundation raised and distributed numerous donations, including grants to organizations like College Bound, the Child Share Program, the Altadena NAACP ACT-SO and the Mixed Roots Foundation to support the wellbeing and educational opportunities for foster and emancipated youth,” Antonovich wrote in a letter announcing the donation.
Antonovich, 80, a former teacher, continued to work with many of the organizations helping foster children and their families, after he retired from the LA County Board of Supervisors in 2016.
For about 37 years, a barbecue
around Antonovich’s Aug. 12 birthday served as a fundraiser for the Foundation.
“Since it is unlikely that we will be able to raise significant additional funds to benefit the Foundation, our Board of Directors and I decided to distribute the remaining funds to two important public service non-profit organizations who will carry on for us and support opportunities for emancipated youth and foster youth in our county,” Antonovich wrote.
The letter did not identify the other nonprofit organization.
AV College officials announced the donation Monday night during the AV Community College District Board of Trustees meeting conducted via the AV College YouTube channel.
Board President Laura Herman said they are grateful for the donation. She noted Antonovich has supported the Antelope Valley community and Antelope Valley College, in particular, for many years. For example, he helped secure a $200,000 grant for the AV College Child Development Center about five years ago.
“He’s always been an advocate for the community and this is just extraordinary evidence of that,” Herman said in a telephone interview. Antelope Valley College Foundation Executive Director Dianne Knippel said the donation will help fund at least two $1,000 scholarships. The recipients must be foster youth or emancipated youth working toward a degree in social work, community service or a business degree.
Knippel credited Pat Russell, Antonovich’s former field deputy, for the inspiring her former boss to donate the funds to the AV College.