Multnomah receives $2.5 million gift By RICHARD KOE

PORTLAND -- Mult-nomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary recently announced receipt of a $2.5 million donation -- largest gift ever to the school -- from the family estate of an original trustee member.

Art Miles, personal representative of the Garrison Family Estate, presented the large donation to Multnomah President Daniel Lockwood on behalf of the family.

The majority of the gift will be committed toward endowment purposes, where the principal is preserved and the trustees designate the earnings.

The Garrisons had longtime affiliations with Multnomah, with Lloyd Garrison one of the original trustees who met with founder John G. Mitchell back on Feb. 14, 1936 to start Multnomah School of the Bible, now the college and seminary.

Lloyd Garrison owned and managed a clothing store in Vancouver, Wash., and proved to be a savvy businessman and a cheerful giver. He was known to give more than 100 pounds or oranges and other fresh fruit to the poor every Christmas, and to give away thousands of dollars of clothing and shoes to people who could not afford them.

Lloyd Garrison was elected to honorary life membership on the trustee board in 1981. He died in 1983.

His brother, Rex, owned an automobile dealership, also in Vancouver and supported Multnomah in many practical ways, such as providing autos to the school's founder, Mitchell, and past President Willard Aldrich. Rex Garrison died in 1990.

Lockwood told a special family chapel that the gift from the Garrison Family Estate is the latest in a string of blessings that God has entrusted to Multnomah.

Paul Griffin, the school's senior vice president, noted that it has been a real faith-building experience to see first-hand how God answers prayers for the needs and concerns of Multnomah.

Now the legacy of the Garrison family will continue to touch people with God's Word at Multnomah, Lockwood added.