The Cilker Family: Family Traditions
In 1946, Bill and Leila Cilker bought their first apricot and prune orchard on Blossom Hill Road from one of Bill’s uncles. In the years since, they’ve seen a lot of changes in the Valley of Heart’s Delight.
Their second prune orchard in Santa Clara is now Kaiser Hospital. Other orchards became Good Samaritan Hospital and the adjacent Samaritan Medical Center.
While the family has developed some of their agricultural properties, they continue to harvest olives and walnuts in the Central Valley and lovingly produce small batches of handcrafted olive oil.
In 1998, Bill and Leila decided to use a portion of one of the properties they had developed to create a philanthropic legacy.
“Mrs. Cilker and I had been involved in feeding the hungry through the Second Harvest Food Bank. This was followed by providing housing for the low-wage earners,” Bill said. “We started to expand our philanthropy. After investigating, we decided it would be expensive and time consuming to hire our own staff and set up a private foundation independently. Setting up our own foundation within the community foundation offered many advantages.”
The Cilkers donated a share of their ownership in the Samaritan Medical Center to the foundation to create the Cilker Family Foundation. Income from the property goes into the family foundation, and the Cilkers work together as a family to find worthy grantees.
Bill added, “This has made it possible for our four children and their spouses to share in the thrill of giving grants to many organizations.”
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