Countywide : Corporate Charity Giving

Four of Orange County’s top 15 revenue-producing companies donated at least $1 million to charitable causes last year, with the largest amount, $2 million, from Fluor. Two companies with a major presence here but headquartered elsewhere, Rockwell Defense Electronics (Anaheim) and McDonnell Douglas (Huntington Beach), both gave more than $3 million from their Orange County facilities. Four of the companies declined to provide information regarding their contributions and another suspended its donation activity.

The pet project of most corporations is education. They are committed to getting students excited about math and sciences and have contributed equipment, laboratories and computers as well as sizable checks to local primary and secondary schools, with the lion’s share going to local universities and colleges.

Over and above everything else, here are the dollar amounts donated by Orange County’s top 15 revenue-producing corporations:

Rank, Corporation, City 1989 Contributions 1. Fluor, Irvine $2,000,000 2. Bergen Brunswig, Orange Declined 3. Western Digital, Irvine *1,000,000 4. Allergan, Irvine 943,500 5. Beckman Instruments, Fullerton 200,000 6. First American Financial, Santa Ana 895,000 7. FHP, Fountain Valley **1,443,000 8. PacifiCare Health Systems, Cypress Declined 9. Carl Karcher Enterprises, Anaheim 550,000 10. AST Research, Irvine ***1,110,000 11. Standard-Pacific, Irvine Declined 12. National Education, Irvine Suspended 13. MAI Basic Four, Tustin Declined 14. Downey Savings & Loan, Newport Beach 139,000 15. Furon, Laguna Niguel 134,000

*Includes pledges for both two- and four-year commitments.

**FHP corporate donated $443,000 to nonprofit agencies; the FHP Foundation, which is endowed by FHP Inc., donated $1 million.

***AST Research contributed $110,000 in cash and equipment to Human Concern International and has committed $1 million to UC Irvine during the next four years.

Source: Individual corporations