“We want to convey how indispensable family, religion and moral virtue are in American society and in conservative philosophy.”

Richard and Helen DeVos, two of America’s most admired philanthropists, will be saluted this weekend by The Heritage Foundation, the leading Washington think tank whose vision they helped sharpen.

The DeVoses are scheduled to receive the Clare Boothe Luce Award, Heritage’s highest honor for dedication to the conservative movement, during a luncheon Friday, April 9, at the policy research institute’s three-day Leadership Conference and Board Meeting in Naples, Fla.

“Rich DeVos inspired countless people around the globe to dream big dreams,” Heritage President Edwin J. Feulner said, summarizing what he told a DeVos biographer. “Rich also left a permanent impression on The Heritage Foundation by calling for a shared vision statement to ensure our lasting mark on social policy in America.

“Rich and Helen made it their purpose, through a generous endowment of the DeVos Center here at Heritage, to keep fighting for family, faith and civic virtue to remain at the heart of American life — and of effective solutions to poverty, crime and family breakdown.”

Richard DeVos, 84, is best known as co-founder of Amway, the pioneering direct sales company he launched over 50 years ago with a high school friend, and as a much-imitated motivational speaker and author.

The DeVoses, who married in 1953, are longtime contributors to conservative causes and candidates. They have been generous donors to Heritage, which named its Richard & Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society after the couple in August 2004.

Feulner credits Rich DeVos with inspiring the think tank to painstakingly draft and adopt its own “vision statement.” Today, the resulting 17 words are emblazoned above the main entrance to Heritage’s headquarters building on Capitol Hill:

The Heritage Foundation is committed to building an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity and civil society flourish.

Those words also greet congressmen, foreign dignitaries and anyone else who steps inside an elevator at Heritage, and are featured in its publications.

“Owing to the vision of Rich DeVos, who rarely is without Helen at his side,” Feulner said, “Heritage and its 625,000 members are focused on the goal represented by this vision statement.”
Heritage Board Chairman Thomas A. Saunders III will join Feulner in presenting the Luce Award to the DeVoses on behalf of the organization’s trustees, who represent those members and donors. Past recipients of the award include conservative icons Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and William F. Buckley Jr.

The DeVoses long have financially supported improved health care, higher education, the arts and a range of Christian ministries, especially in hometown Grand Rapids and in central Florida.

At Heritage, DeVos Center researchers examine the roles filled by religion, family and community in society and provide resources to policymakers, scholars and journalists, among others.

“The mission of DeVos Center is to improve public awareness of these institutions and make serious reflection on them part of shaping policy,” said Jennifer A. Marshall, Heritage’s director of domestic policy studies, who also directs the center. “We want to convey how indispensable family, religion and moral virtue are in American society and in conservative philosophy.”

In announcing the initial $1.8 million grant to establish the policy center in 2004, DeVos expressed his abiding faith in “the power of free enterprise and democracy in giving people around the world hope, opportunity and a better life as endowed by the Creator.”

Helen and Richard DeVos both graduated in 1947 from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, following his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.

DeVos also is owner and chairman of the NBA team Orlando Magic. His four books include “Compassionate Capitalism”and”Hope from My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life.”

He founded Amway Corp. in 1959 with high school classmate Jay Van Andel, a Heritage trustee until his death in 2004. Amway Global became a subsidiary in 2000 of parent company Alticor, which DeVos serves as a trustee.

The DeVoses have four grown children and 16 grandchildren. Their first son, Dick, was CEO of

Source: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/04/Vision-of-Richard-Helen-DeVos-Honored-with-Luce-Award