Texas billionaire couple Laura and John Arnold have donated $10 million to the National Head Start Association to provide emergency funding to the organization during the government shutdown. Head Start is a program that provides young children of low-income families with education resources, medical screening tools and nutritional benefits. Because the government shutdown stopped much of the funding to Head Start in several states, nearly 7,200 children have already missed classes. According to a press release, the Arnold’s gift will “provide assistance to Head Start and Early Head Start programs that were closed or are facing closure.” John Arnold, a successful hedge fund manager, and his wife have previously stated that they plan on leaving their estimated $2.8 billion fortune to charity, instead of their children. In a statement, John Arnold said, “We sincerely hope that our government gets back to work in short order, as private dollars cannot in the long term replace government commitments” …
