The Rex Foundation was created by "members of the Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

 and Friends" in 1983 as a charitable

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

 non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 to "proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education." The organization is named after Rex Jackson, a Grateful Dead roadie and later road manager until his death in 1976.

History

In the fall of 1983, the Rex Foundation was established as a non-profit charitable organization by members of the Grateful Dead and friends. The Rex Foundation enabled the Grateful Dead to go beyond responding to multiple requests for contributions, and proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education. The first benefit concerts for the Rex Foundation were held in the spring of 1984 at the Marin Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium. Since 1984 the Rex Foundation has granted $8.2 million to some 1,000 recipients. Virtually all grant recipients are selected through the personal knowledge of decision makers – as a result, grant requests are not solicited. Grants are made once or twice a year.

Mission

The Rex Foundation's stated mission is "to help secure a healthy environment, promote individuality in the arts, provide support to critical and necessary social services, assist others less fortunate than ourselves, protect the rights of indigenous people and ensure their cultural survival, build a stronger community, and educate children and adults everywhere."

Artists participating (incomplete)

• Grateful Dead
  Grateful Dead
  The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
  
  
• Bob Weir
  Bob Weir
  Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
  
  
• Mickey Hart
  Mickey Hart
  Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
  
  
• Phil Lesh
  Phil Lesh
  Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
  
  
• Donna Jean Godchaux
• Bill Kreutzmann
  Bill Kreutzmann
  Bill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
  
  
• The New Riders of the Purple Sage
• Keller Williams
  Keller Williams
  Keller Williams is an American musician from Fredericksburg, Virginia, who began performing in the early 1990s. He is also known by the names K-Dub or just Keller, when performing. Williams' music combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, and...
  
  
• Dark Star Orchestra
  Dark Star Orchestra
  -References:* at the Internet Archive* - John Kadlecik's official website & personal pages**-External links:* , official website of Dark Star Orchestra* , official website of Dino English...
  
  
• Zen Tricksters
  Zen Tricksters
  The Zen Tricksters are an American Grateful Dead cover band.For almost thirty years, the Zen Tricksters have been playing Grateful Dead covers and jam band music, as well as derivative original songs.. The band started out as the Volunteers, playing small venues around New York's Long Island...
  
  
• Donna Jean and the Tricksters
• moe.
  Moe.
  moe. is an American jam band, formed at the University at Buffalo in 1989. The band members are: Rob Derhak , Al Schnier , Chuck Garvey , Vinnie Amico , and Jim Loughlin ....
  
  
• Tea Leaf Green
  Tea Leaf Green
  Tea Leaf Green is a five-piece jam band from San Francisco Bay Area, comprising Josh Clark , Trevor Garrod , Reed Mathis , Scott Rager , and Cochrane McMillan .-History:Tea Leaf Green began in the fall of 1996, when Scott Rager met Ben Chambers on the...
  
  
• Assembly of Dust
  Assembly of Dust
  Assembly of Dust is a rock band formed in 2002 by former Strangefolk frontman Reid Genauer. Genauer formed the band while enrolled in the MBA program at Cornell University...
  
  
• Ryan Montbleau Band

Beneficiaries

They have contributed to:

• The Achievement Academy at Simon's Recreation Center
• The American Indian College Fund
  American Indian College Fund
  The American Indian College Fund is an nonprofit organization that helps Native American students, providing them with support through scholarships and funding toward higher education...
  
  
• American Music Theater Festival
• Bethesda Project (My Brother's House)
• Camp Winnarainbow
  Camp Winnarainbow
  Camp Winnarainbow is a circus and performing arts camp for all ages, founded and run by Wavy Gravy. The camp adjoins the Hog Farm commune near Laytonville, California.- Activities :...
  
  
• The Committee for a Better North Philadelphia
• Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation
• The Family Assistance Program
• The Farm School
• Fishery Foundation of California
• Food and Friends
• Greater Philadelphia Food Bank
• Hanford Education Action League
• Huichol Sierra Fund for Community Development
• Lithuanian Basketball Team
• Mainstream Foundation
• Musicians United for Superior Education
• National Handicapped Sports
• Native American Women's Health Education Center
• O'Neill Sea Odyssey
  O'Neill Sea Odyssey
  O'Neill Sea Odyssey is a non-profit organization located in Santa Cruz, California . It was founded in 1996 by wet suit innovator Jack O'Neill and provides students with hands-on lessons on marine habitat and the relationship between the oceans and the environment.The program provides a free...
  
  
• Peer AIDS Education Coalition
• The Poetry Project at St. Marks
• Project AVARY
• San Quentin Mass Choir
• Sunburst Projects (Music from people with HIV/AIDS)
• Wave Hill
  Wave Hill (New York)
  Wave Hill is a 28 acre estate, consisting of public gardens and a cultural center, in the Hudson Hill section of the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. It is situated on the slopes overlooking the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades. Listed on the National Register of...
  
   - Putting Children in Touch with Nature
• Whitechapel Art Gallery, London - John Virtue Exhibition
• United Indians of All Tribes Foundation
• Zen Hospice Project

and many others.

Board Members

Bob Weir

Bob Weir

Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...

, Tim Walther, Cameron Sears, Sage Scully, John Scher, Cliff Palefsky, Roger McNamee, Nick Morgan, John Leopold, Michael Klein, Rosalie Howarth, Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...

, Freddy Hahne, Carolyn Garcia, Andy Gadiel, Kristin Dolan, Stefanie Coyote, Barry Caplan, Diane Blagman, Steve Bernstein, Tim Duncan, Dawn Holiday

Bill Graham

Bill Graham (promoter)

Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...

 (1984 – d.1991), Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

 (1984 – d.1995)

Executive Director
Sandy Sohcot

Advisory Board
Bill Walton

Bill Walton

William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while...

, Jon McIntire, Larry Brilliant

Larry Brilliant

Lawrence "Larry" Brilliant is an American physician, epidemiologist, technologist, author, and the former director of Google's philanthropic arm Google.org. Brilliant, a technology patent holder, has been CEO of two public companies and other venture backed start ups. From 1973 to 1976, he...

, John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow is an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who has been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic...

, Bernie Bildman

EMERITUS: Hal Kant

Hal Kant

Harold Sanford "Hal" Kant was an entertainment industry attorney who specialized in representing musical groups...