Clintons’ giving in 2015 tops $2 million

16 state entities aided, files show

The Clinton Family Foundation gave more than $2.6 million to charity in 2015, according to tax records released Friday.

Sixteen of the 56 recipients were entities with Arkansas addresses. Fourteen New York groups and 10 Washington-area charities also received grants, while other gifts were spread across the country.

The Clintons provide all the funding themselves.

Little Rock native Chelsea Clinton is the foundation’s director. Former first lady Hillary Clinton serves as secretary-treasurer. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, is its president.

A spokesman for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said the candidate is not releasing similar information.

At the Clinton Family Foundation, the biggest single gift — $1.5 million — went to the Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit group that the ex-president

founded shortly after leaving office.

The Clinton Foundation, which has offices in Little Rock and New York City, lists goals on its website, including improved health care, more opportunities for girls and women, economic growth, and preparing for climate change.

The Clintons have been criticized for accepting millions of dollars in donations from foreign governments for that foundation, much of it given while Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was serving as secretary of state.

Officials say that if Hillary Clinton is elected in November, the ex-president will step down from the board of the Clinton Foundation and the group will stop taking foreign donations.

The Clinton Family Foundation, the group that released records Friday, is a separate entity that reflects the family’s personal charitable giving.

The records show that Bill and Hillary Clinton added $1 million to the fund in 2015. The Clintons reported income of $ 10.6 million in 2015, according to tax filings released previously.

Although based in Chappaqua, N.Y., where the Clintons currently reside, the organization frequently assists groups in the ex-president’s home state.

In 2015, the family foundation donated $125,000 to the Thea Foundation, a North Little Rock group that promotes art education and offers scholarships. The University of Arkansas got $75,000 for the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock with another $5,000 going to the University of Arkansas Foundation.

The arts group and the Clinton School also were recipients in 2014, as were several other beneficiaries on the latest list.

A University of Arkansas spokesman said the $5,000 was earmarked for the Miller Williams Poetry Prize, which is named after the late professor emeritus.

The poet, who read one of his works at Clinton’s 1997 inaugural, died Jan. 1, 2015.

Groups added to the list of beneficiaries in 2015 included Alzheimer’s Arkansas in Little Rock, $5,000; Foodshare Arkansas in Prescott, $1,000; Little Rock’s yearly music festival, Riverfest, $1,000; The Muses Creative Artistry Project in Hot Springs, $5,000; the Central Arkansas Rescue Effort for Animals in Little Rock, $1,000; and the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church Foundation in Little Rock, $500.

A United Methodist church near the Clintons’ New York home and the United Methodist City Society in New York City received $10,000 each. So did Foundry United Methodist Church, the Washington, D.C., house of worship that the Clintons frequently attended during their White House days.

Hillary Clinton, a lifelong Methodist, attended First United Methodist Church when she lived in Little Rock, and has cited her faith during her presidential bid.

The Clintons also sent money to several anti-hunger organizations in Pennsylvania, New York and Arkansas.

The former first family helped out the schools they once attended: Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Yale University in Connecticut.

A gift also was sent to Washington, D.C.’s Sidwell Friends School, where daughter Chelsea studied, beginning in eighth grade.

Several arts organizations also benefited, ranging from the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., and the School of American Ballet in New York City, to a much smaller outfit in Garland County.

Toni Spears, the Muses project’s executive assistant, said a volunteer named Betty Kate Carney wrote the former president and asked for his help.

“She grew up with Bill Clinton and his entire family,” Spears explained.

The group, which converted a former Christian Science church building into a cultural arts center, organizes musical performances throughout the year.

The money, $5,000, was much appreciated, Spears added.

“We are a small nonprofit arts group on a budget of $250,000 so [the gift] has a major impact,” she said.

The Clintons’ $1,000 gift to a Little Rock animal-rescue group has helped abandoned dogs and cats, according to the group’s executive director, Ashley Younger.

The group finds foster homes for “animals slated for euthanasia, usually due to overcrowding,” said Younger, of Central Arkansas Rescue Effort for Animals.

Spaying, neutering, vaccinating and transporting all those creatures is costly, she said.

Younger said she doesn’t know how her group got on the Clintons’ radar, but she’s grateful that they’re willing to give.

Since its start in 1998, the group has rescued more than 3,800 pets, including 75 so far this year.

“It’s donations from donors like the [Clintons] that allow us to keep our head above water and help these pets,” Younger said.