History
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The Bakersfield Californian Foundation is an offshoot of The Bakersfield Californian, an independent family-owned publication. Alfred Harrell purchased The Californian in 1897. He served as The Californian’s publisher for nearly 50 years and was deeply committed to Kern County and its betterment. Upon his death, his wife Virginia Harrell assumed the leadership of The Californian. Next to head up the newspaper was their daughter, Bernice Harrell Chipman. Mrs. Chipman passed away in 1967 and her daughter, Berenice Fritts Koerber, became President until her death in 1988.
Today Mrs. Koerber’s daughter, Ginger Moorhouse, is publisher and chairman of The Bakersfield Californian.
The Bakersfield Californian Foundation was created to continue the tradition of Alfred Harrell and respond to the needs of communities in Kern County by providing financial assistance to local non-profit charitable organizations.
It is the purpose of the foundation to sustain the quality of life and to search for opportunities to apply its resources to making Kern a more humane, just and enjoyable place in which to live.
The members of the Foundation Board of Directors are:
Ginger Moorhouse, President
Tracey Cowenhoven, Vice President
Richard S. Beene, Secretary/Treasurer
Virginia Cowenhoven, Board Member
Cynthia Icardo, Board Member
John Wells, Board Member
John Moorhouse, Board Member
Peter Cowenhoven, Board Member
Sheryl Barbich, Board Member