Mark Bingham Leadership Fund

Mark Bingham was a strapping 220-pound, 6-foot-5 rugby player who fought off muggers on the street and ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain before taking on terrorists who hijacked United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.

One of the heroes to emerge from America’s biggest tragedy, Bingham has become a symbol of hope to the nation’s gays — a man whose sexual orientation made no difference when lives were at stake.

Bingham, who lived most of his life in Northern California but moved to New York not long before the terrorist attacks, was also a proven leader.

He coached a gay rugby team, the San Francisco Fog, was president of his fraternity, Chi Psi of the University of California at Berkeley (Cal) and started his own public relations firm, the Bingham Group, with offices in San Francisco and New York.

The Mark Bingham Leadership Fund provides scholarships to students interested in Cal, Chi Psi Fraternity, rugby, and those who possess qualities of teamwork, sociability, leadership and heroism.

Some of this biography was taken from the 10/22/01 AP Wire story, “Gay Hero Emerges From Hijackings.”

Visit the Mark Bingham memorial website to learn more about Bingham and recipients of the Mark Bingham Leadership Scholarship.

To make a secure, tax-deductible donation online, click on the button below. You may also send checks payable to the California Community Foundation, noting that the donation is for the Mark Bingham Leadership Fund. Checks should be mailed to:

California Community Foundation
717 W Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

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Contributions to the California Community Foundation represent irrevocable gifts subject to the legal and fiduciary control of the foundation’s board of directors. This charge will appear on your credit card statement as a payment to “Calif Comm Fdn – CCF”. In addition, California Community Foundation incurs a third-party administrative fee of 2.7 percent for credit card contributions. The foundation will charge the fee directly to the individual fund.