Crean of the Crop : This O.C. Philanthropist Teaches by Example--and She’s Looking for a Few Volunteers

In the holiday spirit, Donna Crean has invited dozens of Orange County’s leading community activists to lunch.

She’s buying.

“I want them to learn about the Volunteer Center of Santa Ana,” said the philanthropist, who describes the Jan. 23 event at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach as an “info-luncheon.”

“I’m not asking them for money. I just want them to learn about this valuable resource,” said Crean, whose husband is Fortune 500 RV manufacturer John Crean of Santa Ana Heights.

Without the 37-year-old center, which recruits and refers 32,000 volunteers per year, Crean would be unable to staff one of her pet charity projects--the annual Rubber Ducky Derby benefiting the Children’s Bureau of Anaheim.

“The organization isn’t big enough to staff the event, so the volunteer center does the coordinating,” Crean said. “They contact corporations, for example, and get employees to sign up to do the work.”

The Leadership Luncheon will help bring the center “out of the closet,” said Janet Whitcomb, executive vice president. “People may have heard of us, but may not understand what we do. We connect people and resources for a stronger Orange County.”

A November survey conducted by UC Irvine’s department of urban and regional planning reports that charitable activities in Orange County dropped this year. The median donation was $177, down $47 from 1994. Volunteerism at large is also down 11 points from last year, with 44% of the population doing volunteer work, according to the report.

With reductions in donations and volunteers, nonprofit organizations need the volunteer center more than ever, Whitcomb said. “The Orange County bankruptcy is responsible for many charities having staff cuts. Our services are more in demand.”

The center has written up a vision statement--called “VC2000”--for the new millennium, says center spokeswoman Jeanette Wood.

“Instead of just recruiting and referring volunteers, we will be looking at specific community issues--homelessness, for example--and how we can be a key player in pulling together the volunteers, the nonprofit organizations and the corporations to help,” she said.

“We also want to become more proactive in connecting with Orange County residents. We’ll have an electronic network, where people can use home, school or library computers to connect to our web page. There, they will be able to get information on their communities--the issues, the problems, the opportunities.”

The Orange County charity set has grown accustomed to Donna and John Crean playing leadership roles in the community. The couple donate about $2 million to charity annually.

“We try to be role models,” Donna Crean said. “We give it away because we want to. We hope to set a good example. A lot of others do the same.”

Years ago, when the couple lived in Anaheim, they adopted the practice encouraged by their minister of donating 10% of their income each year to the church.

“The pastor, who was married and had children, was donating that amount, so we thought we certainly should,” she said.

“He told us it would come back to us tenfold. Over the years, our business [Fleetwood Enterprises] grew, and John decided we should give more.

“We did, and the money kept coming in. Now, we donate half of our income. And the money still keeps coming in. We are so blessed; we know God wants us to share it.”

Besides her local commitments, Crean travels the world to support charity. She attended a London benefit last year--so did Princess Di--that supported a children’s hospital. She attended a recent Los Angeles salute to Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. “Sinatra showed up for them,” she said. A week ago, Crean was in New York, attending a fund-raiser for the Michael Bolton Foundation, where Whitney Houston was honored.

During her Big Apple visit, Crean lined up Bolton for the May reopening of the Villa Nova restaurant in Newport Beach. The popular bistro--owned by Donna’s son, Andy Crean--was ravaged by fire in September.

Last year, Bolton used the restaurant to stage a benefit for his foundation. Guests never dreamed he would sing. But when one attendee offered to donate $7,500 to his foundation, the long-haired singer crooned “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and “Georgia on My Mind.”

Will he sing in May?

“I told him he didn’t have to,” Crean said.

We’ll see.