FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 31, 2012 #093
Contact: John Martellaro
816-235-1592
(July 30, 2012) Lifelong Kansas City residents and philanthropists Marion and Henry Bloch today announced the creation of a family foundation to improve the quality of life in their beloved hometown. The announcement was made today at a community celebration honoring Henry Bloch’s 90th birthday held at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation will build on the couple’s vision and values to improve and strengthen Greater Kansas City. It is expected that this foundation will eventually rank among the largest family foundations in the Kansas City region. The Foundation will support efforts in the areas of post-secondary business and entrepreneurship education, visual and performing arts, healthcare, social services, education for low-income, underserved youth, and Jewish organizations. In addition, special emphasis will be placed on three institutions to which the founders have made lifelong commitments of support. These organizations are the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and St. Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City.
“Marion and Henry Bloch have a strong desire to give back to the community that has given so much to them,” said David Miles, president of the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation and The H & R Block Foundation. “And on a day that is dedicated to celebrating Henry’s birthday, he turned the tables and once again showed why he is one of Kansas City’s most beloved citizens.”
In addition to Henry Bloch, who will serve as Chairman, the Foundation’s inaugural board of directors will be comprised of both local civic leaders and the couple’s four children. It is anticipated that lineal descendents of the Bloch family will always be associated with the Foundation to guarantee the long-term fulfillment of the founders’ vision.
“Kansas City has been very good to us,” Henry Bloch said. “If it weren’t for the taxpayers who embraced Dick’s and my tax preparation experiment in 1955, H&R Block wouldn’t have become what it is today. We owe a debt to the Kansas City community, and our hope is that, through this foundation, we will help pay back that debt.”
“Thanks to their vision, determination, and humanitarianism, Marion and Henry Bloch have achieved both success and significance,” David Miles said. “Through their family foundation, this selfless, decent and loving couple will have a lasting impact on generations to come.”
For more information on the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation, visit the foundation’s website at www.blochfamilyfoundation.org.