The Sarkeys Foundation was formed in 1962 by S. J. Sarkeys, who was born in Lebanon in 1874 and emigrated to the United States when he was seventeen. On route to South America, he stopped to visit a brother in St. Louis who showed him a new invention: the carbide lamp. Sarkeys found a market for the lamps in Oklahoma and, as he peddled them around the countryside, he began to buy farmland and, later, oil and gas leases. The successful production from these holdings became the basis for the several fortunes he made and lost during his lifetime. Improving the quality of life in Oklahoma is what Sarkeys Foundation has been doing since 1962. Non profit grants, board retreat grants and conference facilities are just some of the non profit services Sarkeys Foundation in Oklahoma offers.