Diana Latow Blank (born September 13,
Sep 18, 2015 1942)
retrieved October 18, 2014 is an American philanthropist who founded the Kendeda Fund and the former wife of

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

co-founder,

Arthur Blank Arthur M. Blank (born September 27, 1942) is an American businessman and a co-founder of the home improvement retailer The Home Depot. He also currently owns two professional sports teams based in Atlanta, Georgia - the Atlanta Falcons of the Na ...

Biography

Blank was raised in a middle class,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family. Through her Kendeda Fund, founded in 1993, Blank has historically donated anonymously to various Georgia-based causes including $4 million to the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...

in the mid-1990s; and $20 million to

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) sometimes simply referred to as ''Children's'', is a not-for-profit children's healthcare system, located in the Atlanta area dedicated to caring for infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–2 ...

to enable the purchase of Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital, a historically-black hospital in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, in 2006. In 2015, she was revealed as the person who provided a $30 million grant to

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

for their Living Building Challenge 3.0. tasked with building the "most environmentally-sound building ever constructed in the Southeast." The Kendeda Fund donates between $40 million and $50 million annually and has donated over $500 million through 2017 with the goal of spending all its assets by 2024. The name "Kendeda" comes from the names of Blank's three children, Kenny, Dena, and Danielle. Her daughter Dena Blank Kimball serves as the executive director of the Kendeda Fund.

Personal life

She has three children with

(born 1942): Kenny Blank, Dena Blank Kimball, and Danielle Blank Thomsen; they divorced in 1993. Her son, Kenny Blank and his wife Nancy; and her daughter Dena and her husband Josh Kimball, serve as directors of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation: "Josh Kimball, Director"
retrieved February 5, 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blank, Diana 1942 births Living people American philanthropists