Festus & Helen Stacy Foundation

Festus & Helen Stacy Foundation

The Festus & Helen Stacy Foundation was established in 1980 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by the couple who built their fortune through APenn and Penn-Champ, a group of oil and manufacturing companies. Leadership passed to their daughter Virlee Stepelton and her husband Douglas Stepelton, who now serve as Secretary/Treasurer and President, respectively, with a second generation of Stepeltons — Sean and Brett — in vice president and director roles. The foundation keeps its strategy deliberately narrow: direct grants to Christian organizations operating in evangelism, church planting, leadership development, and holistic ministry. No private equity, venture capital, or complex financial instruments show up in its public footprint; the vehicle appears to hold a portfolio of publicly traded securities and a commercial property at 5110 N Federal Highway — the foundation's own office building. Primary philanthropic partner Westminster Academy, a local Christian school, received funding for an athletic complex renovation. Team size and total assets under management are not publicly disclosed. The foundation operates entirely from its Fort Lauderdale headquarters with no additional offices. While it does not participate in club deals or co-investment circles, Douglas Stepelton's tenure as president of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers' Broward-Gold Coast chapter points to local professional networks that may inform board-level relationships. What distinguishes the Stacy Foundation structurally is its three-generation family governance model tied to a single-wealth source. Unlike philanthropies that professionalize by hiring outside CIOs and diversifying asset allocations, the Staceys run the foundation as a family trustee board, with mission-aligned grantmaking dominating any investment mandate. Succession has already reached the grandchildren, embedding continuity but also raising the stakes for generational transition.