Children’s Center is pleased to announce a very generous $750,000 gift from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation. The money will go toward the nonprofit agency’s capital campaign to support development of a new building to house Children’s Center in east Vancouver.
“We are delighted and humbled by this gift,” said Pat Beckett, Executive Director of Children’s Center. “The McClaskey Foundation’s long record of community giving continues and we are so grateful. The real winners are the Clark County children and families who we will serve in our new building.”
In honor of the gift-the largest private gift to date in the capital campaign, Children’s Center will name the therapy garden in memory of Maxine McClaskey, who was an avid gardener, and the leadership wing will be named in memory of Tod McClaskey, Sr. “We are very pleased as a board of the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation to be a part of the growth and new building for Children’s Center here in Vancouver,” said Lyn Angelo, board member.
In 1959, Tod McClaskey and his business partner, Edward H. Pietz, opened the Thunderbird Motor Inn near the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. The initial venture grew into one of the most successful privately held hotel operations in America-Red Lion Hotels and Inns, which eventually had 52 properties and 11,000 employees across eight states. Tod and Maxine McClaskey, married for more than 56 years, were partners in everything they did, including their philanthropic efforts. During their lifetimes, most of their giving was anonymous. Their Vancouver-based family Foundation continues to give back to the communities they loved, with an emphasis of support here in Clark County.