Child Center to Get $1.5-Million Gift

Paul Orfalea, founder of Ventura-based Kinko’s, has pledged $1.5 million to the child development center at Ventura College.

The gift, which will be used to expand the parenting skills classes offered at the center, will be paid out in $50,000 installments over 10 years, with the remaining $1 million to be established as an endowment in December 2010. The annual donations will be matched with funding from the Ventura College Foundation, which raises money for campus facilities and student scholarships, said Marti DeLaO, executive director of the foundation.

Orfalea, who never finished college, has made the support of education a large part of his philanthropic mission, a company spokeswoman said.

He has recently made other significant contributions to community colleges outside Ventura County and to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Westmont College in Santa Barbara.

In recognition of the gift, the Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees was expected Tuesday night to rename the child development center the Kinko’s Child Development Center for Ventura College.