How Walton Family Foundation Helped Restore Lives and Businesses

By Mark E. LevinThe Walton Family foundation’s donations and grants to nonprofits that support the children of President Donald Trump have been the subject of scrutiny, and now the foundation’s board is being grilled over the donations to nonprofit groups that supported Trump’s election.
Walton Family Foundation Chairman and CEO Steve Walton was asked about the donations during a Wall Street Journal interview Wednesday.
The Washington Post asked about Walton’s role in the foundation, which has received more than $7 billion in donations since he took over in December, and his role in its ongoing work to help the Trump administration.
In the interview, Walton, a former private equity executive and philanthropist, said the donations and gifts to nonprofit organizations had been “a huge part of what we’re doing” in recent years.
“The Walton family is one of the richest men in the world,” he said.
“We have an enormous amount of wealth.
I would hope that the president and the administration would be mindful of that and take care of the Walton family.”
Walton said he was “very excited” about the donation program that the foundation started in the fall of 2016, and he said the money would be used for programs that benefit children.
“We’re giving money to a number of charities, and that’s one of our priorities,” he told the Journal.
“It’s a small portion of what it would have cost, but it’s a huge part, and we’re very happy with it.”
Walter and his wife, Ann, donated $500,000 to the Trump Victory Fund, which is dedicated to helping elect Democrats in November.
The couple donated another $100,000 in 2016 to a nonprofit group called Save Our Children, which provides school supplies and clothing for low-income families.
The group also helped the Trump campaign win several state and local races.
In January, the foundation also donated $5 million to the American Red Cross for programs in rural areas.
A former executive of Wal-Mart and a longtime Republican donor, Steve Walton is one member of a powerful donor class that also includes the Walton brothers, Bill and David, and family members.
Walons foundation has received donations from several groups in recent months, including the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity, the Ford Foundation, the Walton Family Foundations, and the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundations.