The Story of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation When most people hear about Bill Gates, the first thing that comes to mind is the obscene amount of money he made throughout his career. Owning many different foundations, the most common foundation known by most college students is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which provides many different scholarships. However, this foundation also does various things to give back to communities and help suffering countries. Within this foundation there are also various branches such as the United States Program, the Global Development Program and the Global Health Program which have grown over time making Gates a commonly used and familiar name. Being the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates had already earned millions of dollars while also becoming increasingly famous for his work with computers. So it was no surprise when he took over his father's previous foundation, called the William Gates Foundation, renaming it the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1997. Donations were quickly made to many universities and colleges such as the University of Washington. They received a donation of twelve million dollars. The Gates Foundation also contributed two million dollars to the Seattle Area YMCA, twenty million dollars to the Seattle Public Library, and one million dollars to the Tacoma Art Museum. The Gates also devised plans to improve public education and address global issues. Of course it is known that at one point technology was only available to the rich or in other words only the rich could obtain certain information or knowledge that the poor could not. Bill and Malinda Gates understood this, so they created a second program called Gates Library fou...... middle of paper ......, you should use those gifts as wisely as possible" and the family stuck to that motto giving back to those who are less fortunate than most of us. They pioneered opportunities that still help us today, such as computers in our libraries and schools, giving scholarships and cash grants to those from minorities and helping third world countries from a health and educational point of view, thus giving everyone, of all types, the opportunity for a better life. Works Cited"Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". December 2013. Press, James. "History of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation." History of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – FundingUniverse. "The Art of Giving,” Business Week, October 25, 1999, p. 80. “Giving Billions Isn't Easy,” Time, July 24, 2000, pp. 52--53.