Basil E. Mills

Basil E. Mills is the Founder and President of Mills Distributing Company (now known as Mills Family Farms) in Salinas. He is past-Chairman of Western Growers Association. He is also past-Chairman of the Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of Central California, past-President of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, an active member and past-President of the Salinas Rotary Club and past Board Member of the Center for Community Advocacy, as well as Ag Against Hunger and Friends of the Monterey County Fair.

He is the immediate past-President of the National Steinbeck Center and presently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Panetta Institute for Public Policy. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Hide 'N Seek Children's Foundation, Children's Services International Children's Cabinet and the Kinship Center's Circle of Champions. He serves on the President's Council of California State University Monterey Bay and is a member of the Executive Committee of the United Way of Monterey County. He co-Chairs the Alexis de Tocqueville Society and serves on numerous other local agencies Advisory Boards. He is the current and founding Chairman of Healthy Eating Lifestyle Principles, Inc. (HELP.)

He and his late wife have been honored as Volunteers of the Year by United Way of Salinas Valley, and also honored as Philanthropists of the Year by the Development Executives Network and the National Society of Fundraising Executives. These groups also honored Mills Family Farms as Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation for 2003.