C. Giles Hunt Charitable Trust

Mission

To carry out Mr. Hunt’s wish to support charities operating within or benefiting residents of Douglas County, Oregon. The trust may also provide more general charitable support, in the trustee’s discretion.

Annual application deadlines

February 28

Program areas

Arts, culture, and humanities
Education
Environment, animals
Health
Human services
Public/society benefit
Religion

States served

Oregon

Geographic limitations

The trust contains a non-binding preference to primarily support organizations that either operate in Douglas County, Oregon, or benefit the residents of Douglas County directly or indirectly.

Trustees

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

The C. Giles Hunt Charitable Trust primarily supports organizations that either operate in Douglas County, Oregon, or benefit the residents of Douglas County directly or indirectly.

Requirements

• To be eligible, organizations must qualify as exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Grantmaking priorities

Preference is given to requests for the following:

• Organizations operating in Douglas County,
• Organizations that benefit the residents of Douglas County directly or indirectly.

Average giving

Average grant size: $2,500 to $10,000
Average number of grants per year: 30
Average total giving per year: $275,000

Annual application period and deadlines

Applications are accepted year-round. Applications must be submitted by February 28 to be reviewed at the annual grant meeting that occurs in June.

Communications

Applicants will receive an automated email confirming their submission. Grant decisions are generally communicated by August for applications received by the deadline.

Required reports

Periodic progress reports and final reports may be required for funded projects.

About the Foundation

C. Giles Hunt was born December 28, 1883, the youngest son of three children of Jeptha and Nancy Hunt, who came to the Fair Oaks area near Sutherlin in Douglas County, Oregon from Indiana in 1870. They settled on what was the old Hoskins Donation Land Claim. Reports indicate that Jeptha Hunt traveled a great deal and reportedly made his fortune in construction and gold mining in California.

The three Hunt children lived their entire lives in Douglas County, Oregon and none of them ever married. In 1905 Giles and his brother bought the old Prairie Kilburn ranch where Gassy Creek meets Calapooya Creek in Douglas County. In addition to the three thousand acres there, the Hunt estate also included three hundred acres near Oakland which was owned by Giles’ sister. The two brothers operated the ranch as a partnership raising sheep until coyotes discouraged that, and in later years, running a few cattle. In addition to their sheep, the Hunt brothers supplemented their income by occasionally harvesting portions of the eight million board feet of timber growing on the ranch.

The two brothers lived on the ranch from 1906 until their deaths. The log house they had built together 50 years earlier was destroyed by fire in 1972. Giles lived alone in a new house, more modern, but equally modest, built on the log cabin foundation.

It’s interesting to note that for the last 45 years of his life, Mr. Hunt usually slept outdoors on his front porch. He was apparently advised many years before, after a tuberculosis scare, to get plenty of fresh air. At the time of his death, his bed was located on the unenclosed porch, covered only by blankets and a canvas tarp.

C. Giles Hunt died on July 30, 1973.