A resident at a Jewish senior retirement community in California donated $200,000 to create a scholarship program to help staff members pursue higher education, reported The Jewish News of Northern California.
Stanley Chen’s contribution will support the new Moldaw Residences Employee Education Scholarship Program.
The two inaugural recipients of the scholarship awards were announced at the end of November: Aaliyah Johnson, a staffer in the Moldaw concierge department pursuing her bachelor’s degree; and Mabelle Pumaras, who works in the lifestyles department and is working towards a master’s degree in business administration.
As the program expands, recipients will be required to perform 100 hours of community service.
Chen, 94, and his wife, Josephine, 93, have been living at the Palo Alto-based Jewish retirement community since 2016. After immigrating to the United States in 1951, Chen worked for two Jewish-owned construction companies before forming his own successful construction company in 1976. He said his Jewish mentors taught him about giving back.
“I appreciate the Jewish community, and I benefited from the Jewish community,” he said. “The Jewish people are community-minded and also allow other people to benefit. They are very generous.”
Prior to living in Northern California, Chen and his wife lived in a Jewish senior center in Boston, where they have been donating $75,000 each year , since 2009 to support a scholarship program specifically for immigrants, refugees or their children at the University of Massachusetts.
