• EXXON, IRVING, $4.45 MILLION
More than $3.4 million in unrestricted gifts to 69 Texas colleges and universities, including Abilene Christian University, Rice University, in Houston, Trinity University, in San Antonio, and the University of Texas at Austin. The gifts were made under the Exxon Education Foundation’s matching gift program, which provides a three-to-one match of contributions by the oil company’s employees, retirees, surviving spouses, and directors. “Exxon recognizes the powerful support demonstrated by our employees through their generous contributions to higher education,” says Tony Atkiss, the foundation’s chairman. . . . $1 million to the Dallas Zoo to fund the Exxon Endangered Tiger Habitat. . . . $50,000 to the Dallas Arboretum to publicize a series of nature-oriented educational programs for children and adults.
• SBC, SAN ANTONIO, $1.25 MILLION
$1 million from the telecommunications company to the San Antonio Public Library for the purchase of children’s library materials. . . . $250,000 to the American Red Cross to assist residents of Oklahoma affected by the May 3 tornado.
• H.E.B., SAN ANTONIO, $1 MILLION
$1 million from the supermarket chain to the San Antonio Public Library for books and materials at the city’s eighteen branch libraries. “Education has always been a focus of our philanthropic efforts,” says Mike De La Garza, H.E.B.’s vice president of public affairs.
