By her own admission, Delores Barr Weaver doesn’t relax very often or have time to read anything frivolous. As primary decision-maker when it comes to managing grants and donations from the Weaver Family Foundation and The Delores Barr Weaver Fund, Mrs. Weaver spends her free time reading anything that has to do with the nonprofit sector.
Although her passion is to champion for the rights and needs of women and children, especially young girls, Mrs. Weaver and her husband, Wayne, have generously donated millions of dollars to the healthcare community, earning the honor of naming opportunities.
Most of the major healthcare facilities in Jacksonville have benefited from the Weavers’ generosity, resulting in the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Simulation Center at the Mayo Clinic; J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Tower serving Baptist Medical Center and Wolfson Children’s Hospital, and the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Women and Infants Pavilion at St. Vincent’s Medical Center Clay County.
The name of the couple who brought an NFL franchise, the Jaguars, to Jacksonville is also found on a downtown community center, home to FreshMinistries, a harbor for youth and a place to pursue a brighter future through job preparation programs. Fittingly, the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Community Outreach Center, located north of the sports district, recently became the recipient of an iconic jaguar mural previously installed on the Bostwick Building.
The arts have not been neglected either. As Riverside residents, the Weavers enjoy walking through the historic neighborhood and visiting The Cummer Museum of Arts & Gardens, where they have established the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Community Sculpture Garden & Plaza.
During an interview for a segment of the Leadership Jacksonville-sponsored Jacksonville Legacy Series, Mrs. Weaver noted that anyone can be philanthropic.
“I like to think that you can be a philanthropist only giving $25 or $50. A lot of the challenge grants require that people raise a certain amount through smaller contributions. In that way people have been told that they can make a difference, no matter what they give. They can have ownership,” she said. “If you don’t have $25, you go volunteer, you do something to give back. It’s an obligation we all have, in our own way.”
