Longview charity named as Lower Columbia College's benefactor of 2022-23

The Wollenberg Foundation donated $950,000 to LCC in the last 30 years, the LCC Foundation said in a news release. The charity also helped establish the federally funded early learning program Head Start so it could be housed at LCC. 

“The Wollenberg Foundation is a charitable foundation established by Harry Wollenberg in 1952. A majority of our funding is for education, including early childhood education such as the Head Start program which is essential for lifelong success,” said Rick Wollenberg, current CEO of the Wollenberg Foundation. “It is a real privilege to help support all generations of community members by providing educational opportunities for all."

Jenny Isaacson, LCC Foundation Board Chair, said the Wollenbergs have been influential business leaders and philanthropists since the founding of Longview Fibre Company.

“The Wollenberg family continues to impact our community and our college through their generosity,”’ she said.

The Wollenberg family founded the Longview Fibre Company in 1926, the news release said. Harry L. Wollenberg became the first CEO of the company before passing the title down through three generations of the family.

Wollenberg then created the Wollenberg Foundation in 1952 that supported several LCC projects — namely the Rose Center for the Arts, which has an auditorium named after the family. They also encouraged funding for the LCC Library and General Scholarship Fund, the news release said. 

“We appreciate this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the extraordinary support of the Wollenberg family, and for their continued generosity in our community,” LCC President Chris Bailey said.

Last year's benefactor of the year went to the estate of Don Lansing, a former Castle Rock teacher and fire chief who died in 2013. Lansing, before his death at age 82, left 75% of his estate to scholarships benefitting Castle Rock High School graduates who attended LCC. The fund was the "largest single scholarship endowment held by the LCC Foundation," the college said in a news release last year.