For us? You shouldn’t have. We think living in San Jose is the greatest gift of all, but it’s actually been on the receiving end of quite a few delightful donations. From monetary donations to parks, art collections, and more, check out these gifts given to San Jose.
Emma Prusch Farm Park | After being raised on her family’s 87-acre dairy farm in the Santa Clara Valley, Emma Prusch (1876-1969) donated the land to the City of San Jose in 1962. Upon witnessing the industrialization of San Jose’s farmland, Prusch stipulated that the city would make the land “a place of relaxation, recreation, and enjoyment for the people of the City of San Jose, and in such a manner as will, to extent that such can be reasonably done, give to said park a rural county character and atmosphere.”
San Jose Museum of Art’s Farley Collection | Barbara and Dixon Farley donated a collection of 44 works by various artists including Jay DeFeo, Claes Oldenburg, Richard Serra, and others to the museum in 2015.
$30 million for Housing Trust Silicon Valley | Yield Giving, a philanthropic fund run by MacKenzie Scott, provided the financial institution with its largest individual donation in the organization’s history this fall. According to Housing Trust’s CEO, Noni Ramos, the donation will support the organization’s mission to create affordable housing opportunities; to date, it’s created 27,200 housing opportunities.
$2 million for the San Jose Fire Museum | Former SJFD Fire Captain Tom Richardson, who retired in 1999, has donated $2 million to the museum and its restoration efforts for Old Fire Station One.
These extraordinary gifts not only add character and value to our city but also show how generosity can have a lasting impact. Did we miss something from your holiday list? Drop us a line and let us know what SJ gift you love the most.
