Weinsteins donate $2.2 million to Davidson College

If you had to put a price on the friendship between Carole and Marcus Weinstein of Richmond and Sam Spencer, the former president of Davidson College, $2.2 million would be a good place to start.

That's the value of the Weinsteins' recent gift to Davidson in honor of their longtime friend.

The money will support several aspects of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program, which was one of the programs supported by Spencer during his tenure as president from 1968 to 1984.

After dedication ceremonies on Nov. 10, several spaces connected with the program will bear the name Weinstein or Spencer.

The portion of Duke Residence Hall that houses the international program will be named the Carole and Marcus Weinstein Center. The Dean Rusk staff offices will be in the Spencer Office Suite. Also, the main lobby of the school's Chambers building, where the main college administration offices are located, will be named the Spencer Lobby.

The Weinsteins had honored their friend about 25 years ago with a scholarship named in his honor at Davidson, Carole Weinstein said.

"In those intervening years, we visited the campus, met more presidents, and the relationship [with the school] grew," she said. Their company, Weinstein Properties, also expanded into North Carolina and now owns and manages 10 apartment communities in the Charlotte, N.C., area around Davidson, as part of its 12,000 apartments in Virginia and North Carolina.

"We've done things here at the University of Richmond and a few things at Virginia Commonwealth University and a few things at other colleges we have connections to, and here's another one that especially means a lot to us," Weinstein said.

The couple continue to give despite the economic downturn, "because we believe so much in it," she said.

"We're not very acquisitive. The money we have, it has always been a philosophy to share as much as we can while we're alive and can take pleasure in the investment.

"We think of education as a long-range return for everybody. Somehow or another, the more we give, the more we have to give."

. . .

Eastern Henrico FISH Inc. -- an organization that provides food, clothing and lodging for people with short-term emergencies -- has received $5,000 from BJ's Charitable Foundation.

FISH clients must live in eastern Henrico County, where BJ's has one of its warehouse stores. In determining whether to give aid, FISH says it considers the nature of the emergency and the ability of the client to be self-sufficient after assistance.

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or . Send notices for Notable Gifts to .