Longstanding Hospital Benefactors Make One of the Largest Individual Gifts in Hospital’s History and Will Have the Gateway Building Renamed in Their Honor
Joyce and Stanley Black Donate $15 Million Gift to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
<0> Children’s Hospital Los AngelesLorenzo Benet, (323) 361-4823 </0>
One of California’s most generous philanthropic couples, Joyce and Stanley Black, has made a $15 million gift to fund research and clinical care programs at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In honor of one of the largest individual contributions in the history of the hospital, its Gateway Building will be renamed the Joyce and Stanley Black Family Building.
“This incredible gift will go toward the life-saving and life-giving programs that help the 97,000 children treated annually by our hospital,” says Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Joyce and Stanley are longtime supporters of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and their generous donation reflects their devotion to providing the best medical care to our children.”
Located in the heart of the hospital’s campus, the Joyce and Stanley Black Family Building faces Sunset Boulevard and serves as the physical link between the hospital’s longstanding care centers – the Outpatient Tower, the McAlister Building and Mary Duque Building – and the six-story, 317-bed, state-of-the-art Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion, which opened in 2011. About 117,000 people enter the building every month, energized by the warm and colorful interior designed by world famous Walt Disney Imagineers.
The first floor includes the hospital’s majestic entryway – the Mary Hart and Burt Sugarman Guest Registration Center and the Walt Disney Company Foundation Reception Area. The building then opens up into the colorful John Stauffer Lobby, home to the Weingart Admitting Area and the Gabriel C. and Mary Duque Gift Shop. Child friendly, the lobby area also includes the P-L-A-Y Tower, where children can visit different Los Angeles communities, and LA-Phant, a beloved elephant-shaped structure for kids to crawl on. There’s also the tranquil Cynthia L. and William E. Simon, Jr. Foundation Aquarium and the Cheryl and Haim Saban Story Corner, where volunteers read and do crafts with children. Above the Blood Donor Center on the second floor is the hospital’s Burtie Green Bettingen Surgery Center, providing 14 state-of-the-art surgery suites, recovery rooms and private consultation rooms, with direct access to critical care surgical units in the Anderson Pavilion.
The building also overlooks another Children’s Hospital Los Angeles treasure – the Joyce and Stanley Black and Family Healing and Meditation Garden, an outdoor quarter-acre relaxation garden that was named in 2004 in honor of the family’s $2 million gift. The picturesque garden serves as the location for many historic and important hospital events, including the hospital’s Annual Holiday Lighting Ceremony.
This unrestricted gift is only the most recent hospital contribution from the Blacks and their charitable foundation, the Stanley and Joyce Black Family Foundation. For more than 17 years, the Blacks have made personal contributions and donated ornate works of art and sculptures that adorn the hospital grounds and the lobby of The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. They are members of the Children’s Circle of Care, a philanthropic organization that recognizes member hospital benefactors, and the Red Wagon Society, which funds hospital programs. They also have supported Holidays from the Heart, a program which helps hospital families in need during the holiday season. Both Joyce and Stanley are interested in the oncology branch of medicine and research.
Their relationship with Children’s Hospital began like many of the thousands of Southern California families who have come to benefit from the hospital’s therapeutic and leading edge clinical care. When Joyce was a child in the late 1930s, she was stricken with mastoiditis, an ear infection that could lead to loss of hearing. Though today the condition is easily treated with antibiotics, Joyce underwent a double mastoidectomy, a procedure that removes an infected part of the bone behind the ear. Without the delicate level of care provided by Children’s Hospital, Joyce could have faced permanent hearing loss.
Stanley Black’s work and reputation crisscross the city’s business and philanthropic landscape. He has more than 50 years of experience in real estate and serves as the founder and general partner of the Beverly Hills-based Black Equities Group, a real estate investment company with properties in 35 states and more than 20 million square feet of space. Such familiar companies as Wendy’s, Office Depot and Burger King occupy his buildings. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Stanley is a graduate of Los Angeles High School and Los Angeles City College and served in the U.S. Navy. In 1954, he joined Buckeye Realty and Management, and in 1957, branched out on his own, teaming up with Arthur Kaplan to create KB Management Co. Over the next 20 years, KB Management developed over 60 office buildings and retail projects in and around Los Angeles County. After the death of Kaplan in 1985, Stanley formed Black Equities with his son, Jack Black. The company has interests in commercial and industrial properties across the country.
Stanley and Joyce are longtime fundraisers and supporters of many wonderful organizations in addition to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, particularly Jewish philanthropies. They have supported City of Hope, Vista del Mar, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, the Jewish Federation, Jewish Big Brothers, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Jewish Vocational Services, the Boy Scouts of America and Los Angeles ORT College, a technical institute. Mr. Black also serves as a member of the World Business Council, Chief Executives Organization and is a former member of the Young Presidents Organization.
Active in political circles and an avid art and sculpture collector, Mr. Black also collected proverbs and inspirational words, compiling them in a self-published book, which he distributed to family, friends and associates. Illustrating his fervor for life and charity, Black’s favorite sayings included “Sometimes, it is better to be 80 years young than 40 years old,” and “Give and it will be given to you.” The compilation was inspired by his father, Jack, who worked in the garment industry.
Joyce and Stanley live in Los Angeles, and in addition to their son Jack, they have two daughters, Janis Black Warner and Jill Black Zalben, who both work at Black Equities and serve as directors of the Stanley and Joyce Black Family Foundation. Jill’s son Zachary Zalben also works for the company and is one of six Black grandchildren.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital on the West Coast and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious US News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
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