By Patty Huston-Holm
When Americans think of philanthropy, the names of Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates with their causes of alleviating hunger and healing the sick frequently come to mind.
Believers in Christ might overlook Him until remembering the many Biblical stories (John 4 woman at the well, etc.) and scriptures (Jesus’s advice to “give freely” per Luke and Matthew and Acts 10 about doing good, among others). Jesus Christ is the son of God, savior of human sin and, yes, a philanthropist.
Then, there is Craig Hammon, who lives with his wife in the small coastal town of Essex, Ma. – just minutes away from their three daughters who have the titles of teacher, therapist and treasurer with five children ages 6 to 19. In addition to his titles of husband, father and grandfather, Hammon has been vice president of CURE, a nonprofit network of children’s hospitals; vice president of Christian colleges in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts; and head of development for the World Vision humanitarian aid organization.
Hammon, 78, is a philanthropist. More specifically, he consults about where to give and why. Over the years, he has advised many about responsible giving. Among beneficiaries of those gifts is Uganda Christian University (UCU). Among the givers is the Tennessee-based, Westwood Endowment, where Hammon was affiliated until all funds were expended at the end of 2021. Westwood provided UCU’s nursing program with $275,000 over 12 years.
“In 2024, the UCU nursing program marks 20 years,” said Mark Bartels, executive director of Uganda Partners. “This seemed an appropriate time to recognize the generous donations of Westwood, where Craig was a trustee.”
In addition to Hammon, Thomas H. McCallie III and the late Richard A. West played leadership roles with Westwood since it founding in 1987. Hammon, who has philanthropy consulting affiliations for various health-and-education-related entities, recalled a 2009 meeting at UCU where he was convinced that nursing education was a good investment of Westwood funds. Doug Fountain, formerly involved in UCU health sciences and finance and now executive director of Christian Connections for International Health, was at that meeting in Mukono, Uganda. The idea of nursing was developed by former UCU Vice Chancellor John Senyonyi and officials at Bethel University (Minnesota).
“Doug and some folks from Bethel University said they wanted to develop a transformative nursing school to undergird health care in Uganda,” Hammon said. “It felt right.”
Fountain recalled that “Westwood showed up ready to help” current and future nurses who had a passion to positively impact Uganda’s health care while “struggling to figure out how to pay.” He added that Westwood filled that nurse and nurse education gap with finances and “the encouragement and support that lasted years.”
A dozen years of grants for UCU equipment and training nurses from midwifery to bachelor, master and doctoral degrees was aligned with Westwood’s Christian focus and other education and health care initiatives. From the start, Hammon saw that UCU had the need and accountability in place to make use of funds as he had observed in his affiliation with CURE International, a Christian nonprofit organization that owns and operates eight charitable children’s hospitals around the world.
“There is a terrible crisis in health care – lack of supplies and equipment and inadequately trained staff,” he said. “Things are improving. In 1988 around the world, 35,000 kids a day were dying of preventable diseases; now it’s 19,000 a day. Nurses are key.”
In his 50 trips to Africa, including 15 times each to Kenya and Uganda, he has observed the worst (malaria, children living in slums, “families cooking food outside for hospital patients inside”) and the best, including a neurosurgical hospital in Mbale.
“I’m focused on people and places with solutions to help the least and the lost,” Hammon said. “I don’t have a medical background, but my 35 years of fundraising provides me the insight into where donations are best used. UCU nursing is one of those areas.”
Semi-retired since 2010, Hammon works part-time, consulting various foundations on where their funds can best be placed. His role, sometimes called development, is one of seeing people “caring deeply and passionately about a cause and giving them an opportunity to impact needs.”
“Advocating for and helping people less fortunate than yourself is the reason for living,” he said. “Philanthropy is not engagement only for the wealthy, but for all who have an altruistic desire to improve human welfare. As believers, we find out what God is doing and become part of it.”
The terms charity and philanthropy are often used interchangeably with both related to money or talent or both. Differences are associated to length and consistency of giving. Charity tends to be an emotional impulse to an immediate, often short-term, crisis situation. Philanthropyaddresses the root cause of social issues and requires a more strategic, long-term engagement. At that, many of the world’s 260,000 philanthropic foundations help highly esteemed entities, such as noted universities.
According to Philanthropy Tracker 2023, United States citizens surveyed over 10 years through 2018, 61% reported donating to charity and 42% said they volunteered time to an organization. Education and health are the most supported causes.
“There was a time when I helped support five liberal arts colleges in the USA,” Hammon said. “It was a good investment. But faith-based relief for East Africa is a better focus to serve the least and the lost and to enable them to serve themselves.”
Regarding the UCU contribution, Hammon said he was “blown away” by the passion, qualifications and leadership. The scholarship funding not only provided nursing credentials for individuals but knowledge and skill to improve communities.
“The key is not sending doctors or medical teams somewhere, but training local people to be as good as they can be to do the work where they live,” he said. “With support, they have the ability to help themselves.”
The 1,850 small and large contributors to the Uganda Partners organization since its inception 23 years ago have subscribed to this belief, according to Bartels. The current donors of various levels number 1,000.
“They understand the outreach and impact for a developing country like Uganda and the value of a Christ-centered learning environment,” he said. “We value all levels of giving.”
Hammon said none of the benefactors he has represented has “expressed regret.” He said, “Once you’ve seen the need, you can’t turn your back.”
“The story isn’t about me,” Hammon said at the end of the late November interview. “It’s about everybody who gives.”
