Lucille Papendick: Endowing St. Louis
A Charitable Catalyst
Lucille Papendick lived her life modestly. However, more than a generation after her death – she continues to make meaningful contributions that enrich the cultural fabric of St. Louis.
How? By making a gift to the St. Louis Community Foundation.
When creating her fund, Lucille asked that a portion of her gift be used for a limited time to support to the cultural, arts and education organizations she loved during her lifetime. The remainder would be used without limitations to support worthwhile projects, organizations, and initiatives of importance to the region.
As a result, even today she continues to make vital contributions to the organizations she enjoyed during her lifetime, as well as those not yet envisioned or established. That means today Lucille and her fund have provided critical support to the following:
- Helped defray travel expenses to send a group of middle-schoolers from Normandy School District to Carnegie Hall.
- Assisted Pianos for People as they opened a studio in Ferguson to provide free lessons.
- Extended support to the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis to create “What Democracy Looks Like,” a documentary about student advocacy and activism, which premiered at the 2016 St. Louis Film Festival.
- Covered the cost of tickets, educational programming and transportation for 600 students from the Ferguson-Florissant School District to see “And In This Corner, Cassius Clay,” a play about the early life and activism of Muhammad Ali.
- Supported “Paintings For Peace” exhibitions and programming at COCA.
- Supported the A4AC School Clubs program of Artists for a Cause to bring art and cultural education to schools that have cut art and music programs.
- Hosted a Metro Theatre Company play about privilege at the Missouri History Museum, including a hosted conversation about what it means to have privilege in our society.
- Facilitated the restoration of the oldest African American one-room schoolhouse in Missouri.
Thanks to her vision, foresight and partnership with the St. Louis Community Foundation, Lucille leaves a rich legacy to the region she loved, which will be used to inspire, enrich, and enthrall our community for years to come.
- $186,500: Lucille’s gift to the Community Foundation
- $588,000: The value of her fund today
- $400,950: donated to local nonprofits to date
