The Anthon Foundation was established in 1976 as the Reidar and Gunnar Holsts Legat, and is a foundation with a humanitarian purpose and has had as its purpose to benefit public benefit purposes through the return on the shares the foundation owned in Anthon B Nilsen AS. Through this ownership, the Anthon Foundation has helped to promote a large number of different projects and initiatives, and distributes nearly 200 educational scholarships each year.

The foundation's main line is to support initiatives for the benefit of children and youth, and annually it distributes in the region of 10-12 million kroner for such purposes. One of them is the Oslojazz Ung workshop for children and youth between the ages of 6-16, which is held each year in advance of the festival week.