I have no real interest to be on camera or to be a celebrity. It's not that I don't like people, but I like having my privacy." Philanthropy Hillenburg, with his wife Karen endowed numerous projects and organizations through the United Plankton Charitable Trust, which they established in 2005, naming after Hillenburg's United Plankton Pictures. It supports areas of their personal interest, giving under $500,000 annually . Grantees include large, established arts-related organizations such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound, in which Karen is co-chair. Health accounts for most of their grantmaking; they had gifted Planned Parenthood (where Karen has been on the board of directors ) and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, among other national health organizations. In education, they have donated to schools, including the Polytechnic School in Pasadena (which their son attended), CalArts, and Humboldt State University. Donations to the latter helped fund the HSU Marine Lab and the Stephen Hillenburg Marine Science Research Award Endowment, which the couple created in 2018 to support the university's marine-science research students. The previous year, the Princess Grace Foundation introduced the Stephen Hillenburg Animation Scholarship, an annual grant from the Hillenburgs to emerging animators. Illness and death Hillenburg disclosed to Variety magazine in March 2017 that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. He released a statement to the publication, in which he said that he would continue to work on SpongeBob SquarePants "for as long as [he is] able." He added: "My family and I are grateful for the outpouring of love and support. We ask that our sincere request for privacy be honored during this time." Hillenburg was in the early stages of the disease at the time, according to a source close to him. During his last days as executive producer, he had difficulty speaking, and it came to the point where he eventually stopped coming to the office. He died at his home on November 26, 2018 in San Marino, California, at the age of 57, due to the disease. According to his death certificate, his body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California the next day. Legacy During the halftime show for Super Bowl