The Shirley McKernan Courage Foundation concentrates its giving on health-related causes, especially pediatric hospitals and medical centers, alongside significant support for assistance dog programs. Its grants are relatively few but sizable and often repeated to the same organizations, indicating a preference for deep, targeted investments in a small set of trusted grantees. The foundation appears to balance local Los Angeles-area medical institutions with national specialty organizations focused on children’s health and disability support services.
Concentrated portfolio of a small number of mid-to-large grants, with repeat funding to core grantees; mixes local (Los Angeles) hospital support with national specialty charities.
A repeated pattern of large unrestricted gifts to Canine Companions, St Jude Children’s Hospital, and Southern California medical institutions defines The Shirley Mckernan Courage Foundation (fka Mc Kernan & Ruby Family Foundation). The foundation’s recent giving shows a small set of long-running relationships, with the same organizations appearing across multiple years and at different grant levels. That consistency suggests a targeted approach rather than broad, one-off philanthropy. Health-related causes are central to the portfolio, especially pediatric care and hospitals serving children. St Jude Children’s Hospital appears with multiple awards across 2023 and 2025, including both six-figure and smaller grants. Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles also receives repeated support, alongside St John’s Health Center Foundation and St John’s Cancer Inst in Santa Monica. The foundation’s giving also reaches disability support through service-dog programs, with Canine Companions receiving several grants, including the largest recent award. The grants are largely unrestricted, which points to flexible operating support for established organizations. Rather than funding a wide mix of causes, the foundation concentrates its resources in a narrow set of medical and assistance-service institutions, most of them in California and a few national specialty nonprofits.
In pediatric health, the foundation backed St Jude Children’s Hospital with multiple unrestricted grants, including $100,000 in 2025, $50,000 in 2025, $25,000 in 2025, $25,000 in 2024, $5,000 in 2024, and smaller gifts in 2023. Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles also appears in the record with $90,000 in 2023, $25,000 in 2024, and $10,000 in 2023. Local hospital support extends to the Los Angeles area through St John’s Health Center Foundation and St John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, each receiving unrestricted support across 2023 and 2025. The foundation also gave $10,000 in 2025 to St John’s Cancer Inst. Beyond health care, the foundation supports assistance-dog work. Canine Companions received gifts in 2023, 2024, and 2025, including a $125,000 grant in 2025, showing sustained support for service-animal programs.
$410K
$1M
$1.4M
$413K
Most grants fall between $1K and $25K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$1K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$25K
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Notable grantees: Canine Companions, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, St. John’s Health Center Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
Typical grant size centers on smaller awards, with a p25 of $1,000, a median of $5,000, and a p75 of $25,000. The recent record also includes larger six-figure grants, which means the foundation can make both modest and substantial gifts within the same year. The same organizations recur across years, especially Canine Companions, St Jude Children’s Hospital, St John’s Health Center Foundation, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Grants are described as unrestricted, indicating flexible support rather than tightly designated project funding. The foundation does not fund individuals and is not making program-related investments.
Giving is heavily California-oriented: 62% of grants go to recipients in the foundation’s HQ state, and California is also the top state by grant count. Recent grants land in Santa Rosa, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and other California cities, alongside a smaller set outside the state such as Memphis, Fairfax, and New York. All recorded grants in the provided sample are in the United States, with no non-U.S. recipient countries shown.
Its recent grants focus on pediatric hospitals and children’s medical care, general acute-care medical centers in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, and assistance-dog organizations. The named grantees in the record include St Jude Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, St John’s Health Center Foundation, and Canine Companions.
The typical grant-size distribution is p25 $1,000, median $5,000, and p75 $25,000. The recent list also shows occasional larger awards, including $100,000 and $125,000 grants.
Yes. The same grantees appear across multiple years, including Canine Companions, St Jude Children’s Hospital, St John’s Health Center Foundation, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. That repeated pattern suggests ongoing relationships rather than isolated one-time gifts.
California receives 62% of the grants, and it is also the top state by grant count. Recent California recipient cities include Santa Rosa, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Newport Beach is not listed in the provided grants.
The recent grants are described as unrestricted. That indicates flexible support across the foundation’s chosen organizations, rather than funding tied to a single designated project.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $100,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $100,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $100,000 | 2026 | UNRESREICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $100,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SPCA LA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $10,000 | 2026 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $125,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $100,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $100,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $50,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $25,000 | 2025 | UNRESREICTED |
| ST JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER | SANTA MONICA, CA | $25,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JOHN'S CANCER INST | SANTA MONICA, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SPCA LA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ASPCA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SPCA LA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $1,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $250 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SPCA LA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $100 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $25,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $25,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $25,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $25,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $25,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SPCA LA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $5,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $5,000 | 2024 | UNRESREICTED |
| SPCA LA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $5,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER FOUNDATION | SANTA MONICA, CA | $100,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $90,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER FOUNDATION | SANTA MONICA, CA | $25,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER FOUNDATION | SANTA MONICA, CA | $25,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CANINE COMPANIONS | SANTA ROSA, CA | $25,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $10,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| UNITED HEALTH UKRAIN | FAIRFAX, VA | $5,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ASPCA FOUNDER'S SOCIETY | NEW YORK, NY | $2,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $1,000 | 2023 | UNRESREICTED |
| THE HUMANE SOCIETY | WASHINGTON, DC | $1,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $1,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ASPCA FOUNDER'S SOCIETY | NEW YORK, NY | $1,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | MEMPHIS, TN | $150 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| SPCA LA | LOS ANGELES, CA | $150 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION | WASHINGTON DC, DC | $150 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
| GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND | YORKTOWN, NY | $50 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED |
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$100,000UNRESREICTED
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$100,000UNRESTRICTED
UNRESTRICTED
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$100,000UNRESTRICTED
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$50,000UNRESTRICTED
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$25,000UNRESREICTED
ST JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER
$25,000UNRESTRICTED
ST JOHN'S CANCER INST
$10,000UNRESTRICTED
ASPCA
$1,000UNRESTRICTED
CANINE COMPANIONS
$1,000UNRESTRICTED
UNITED HEALTH UKRAIN
$5,000UNRESTRICTED
ASPCA FOUNDER'S SOCIETY
$2,000UNRESTRICTED
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$1,000UNRESREICTED
THE HUMANE SOCIETY
$1,000UNRESTRICTED
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$1,000UNRESTRICTED
ASPCA FOUNDER'S SOCIETY
$1,000UNRESTRICTED
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
$150UNRESTRICTED
MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION
$150UNRESTRICTED
GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND
$50UNRESTRICTED