Winfrey Fund Helps People in Need

Guy M. Winfrey, who passed away in 1996 at age 84, overcame a hard-knock life he endured at a young age. He dropped out of school at age 14 after his mom died to go to work and support three younger sisters. Today he helps abused adults and children gain better lives.

Guy was a World War II veteran who worked in a drug store and for a railroad before making his career as a successful car salesman in Norfolk. His wife Sue Cook Winfrey died in 1984 shortly before the couple's 50th wedding anniversary. In tribute to her Guy arranged through a bequest for a field-of-interest fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to help battered adults and children. In its first 20 years the Sue Cook Winfrey fund provided more than $2 million in grants to 20 nonprofits. It was a Winfrey grant in 2016 that was the catalyst for a joint Coordinated Crisis Response hotline that provides a single phone number and 24/7 help for Hampton Roads survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.