August 7, 2010

Hilton Foundation Gives Millions and Keeps Track of Region’s Needs

A Foundation’s Lesson in Disaster Giving 1

Shawn Escoffrey

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation committed $1.3-million to improve New Orleans child-care centers.

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close A Foundation’s Lesson in Disaster Giving 1

Shawn Escoffrey

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation committed $1.3-million to improve New Orleans child-care centers.

By Nicole Wallace

Within days of when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation announced it would award $6-million to help the battered region.

Yet even more significant, say officials of the Reno, Nev., foundation, is the giving that followed: another $5-million to meet longer-term needs. Those subsequent grants have helped shape the foundation’s policies for how it responds to future disasters.

A year after Katrina, the foundation hired a consultant from the