Kellogg Foundation
Will Keith Kellogg was the founder of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and was known for his invention of corn flakes. He was also one of the United States' greatest philanthropists. W. K. Kellogg was born in 1860. He only finished school through the sixth grade. His first job was as a stock boy. His second job was a traveling broom salesman. He finally went to work at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked as a bookkeeper and manager. For years he assisted his brother, the physician-in-chief, in research trying to improve the vegetarian diet for the patients.
By accident, Kellogg left a pot of boiled wheat sitting and when it was rolled, the grains became large thin flakes. He served the flakes to the patients and it became a favorite food. Due to the request of the patients after they left the sanitarium, Kellogg would pack the food and mail it to them.
Kellogg used his marketing sense and hard work to create his business. During those profitable years he supported many charitable causes. He was convinced that the most good could be accomplished by helping young people. Kellogg established the Fellowship Corporation, which helped build an agricultural school and a bird sanctuary, and established an experimental farm and reforestation project. Kellogg donated nearly three million dollars to a school for handicapped children, a civic auditorium, a junior high school and a youth recreation center.
Kellogg later changed the name of the Fellowship Corporation to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. He was 91 years old when he died but his legacy of "helping people help themselves" lives on.
The Foundation Mission Statement begins with "helping people help themselves."
The programming activities center on the vision that each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for himself or herself, family, and community; and has the capability to create a healthy community.
The foundation's beliefs are:
Everyone in society should be heard.
Participation is important to making improvements.
Society's future is dependent on investment in children.
Human conditions can be improved through education.
The Kellogg Foundation provides money to organizations and institutions that can identify problems and have designed a program to solve the problem. The majority of the grant-making is focused on areas of youth, leadership, philanthropy, volunteerism, community-based health services, higher education, food systems and rural development.