Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation

The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation is created by Wal-Mart retail empire founder Sam M. Walton. Ranked as 37th in the list of the biggest donations and other charitable funds, the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation is personally managed by members of the Walton family. Helen Robson Walton, the late Sam Walton’s wife, served as the organization’s director together with her children, S. Robson, James, John, and Alice Walton.

The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s attention is primarily geared towards conservative education yet has consistently pushed for reforms in the K-12 education system. The late John Walton, who died in a plane crash in 2005, vocally supported the emergence of charter schools and other changes in the ways education is being handed down to the younger generation.

Though the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation has supported other charitable endeavors such as funding organizations aiming for environmental conservation, health care, social services, and marine resources sustainability among others, the organization by the Walton Family channels most of their seven-figure donations to educational aspirations.

The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation currently supports three academic programs – the Walton Scholarship, the International Scholarship Program, and the Walton Delta Scholarship Program.

The Walton Scholarship program awards educational scholarships to children of Wal-Mart employees who are high school seniors and have shown notable and exceptional excellence in their academics and are active participants in projects where they have shown flair in leadership and responsibility. The International Scholarship Program aims to give deserving students from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama quality education from United States colleges. The Walton Delta Scholarship Program is designed for students who come from the Arkansas Delta region and is intended to help build careers as educators.

The Walton Family has surpassed other philanthropic actions of several stellar names like Ford, Carnegie and Kellogg in the area of education. They are currently the most generous giver to education philanthropy.

Alice Walton donates to Crystal Bridges Museum. More on Alice Walton plotting an art collection. More on Alice Walton’s contributions to Crystal Bridges.