The Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation (SMMEF) has announced that it is the beneficiary of an estate gift of $4.8 million, the largest gift in the organisation’s 30-year history.
The gift, from the estate of the late Peggy Bergmann who passed away on 10th December 2011, will be divided into two parts:
- $2.4 million has been designated to establish an arts endowment for the purpose of providing semi-private music instruction, as well as the purchase and maintenance of musical instruments, for economically disadvantaged students throughout the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
- $2.4 million has been designated as current-use dollars to address SMMEF’s critical needs within the District.
“This is a truly transformative gift for the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation and our efforts to support every student at every school in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District,” said SMMEF Executive Director Linda Greenberg Gross. “This gift will help us continue the great work that is already happening in our schools, and it will ensure that programs throughout our District can continue in these difficult economic times.”