In a lively and well-attended Grant Awards Celebration our membership awarded a total of $300,000 in grant funding to 13 Sonoma Valley nonprofits.
The following nonprofit organizations were awarded Impetus Grants ranging from $5,786 to $25,000:
- Boys and Girls Club Sonoma Valley (BGCSV) — $20,000 to use toward costs associated with the merger of Teen Services Sonoma with BGCSV, integrating their programs and marketing and web services.
- Cancer Support Sonoma — $5,786.36 (unrestricted). Ceres Community Project — $25,000 to provide 40 low-income and medically vulnerable Sonoma Valley clients and their families with 3700 low or no-cost organic, medically tailored home-delivered meals, as well as nutrition education and connection to the community.
- Ceres Community Project — $25,000 to provide 40 low-income and medically vulnerable Sonoma Valley clients and their families with 3,700 low or no-cost organic, medically tailored home-delivered meals, as well as nutrition education and connection to the community.
- Friends in Sonoma Helping (FISH) — $25,000 to provide rental assistance for approximately 37 families and utility assistance to about 15 families.
- Kid Scoop News — $25,000 to improve widespread and effective use of Kid Scoop’s monthly bilingual newspaper in Latinx households, by funding a part-time Parent Outreach and Engagement Coordinator and 350 subscriptions for the highest-need households in Sonoma Valley.
- La Luz Center — $24,505.64 to establish a digital lending library with the necessary technology for La Luz’s clients to take online courses in workforce development, language acquisition, and citizenship preparation, at home and in an outdoor computer lab at La Luz Center.
- Social Advocates for Youth — $25,000 to increase outreach to homeless and housing insecure youth in Sonoma Valley.
- Sonoma Ecology Center — $25,000 to help support in-school climate science and land education lessons, a seasonal teen employment program for Enviro Leaders and Ambassadors, a scientist-in-training program to support a post-fire community research project, and summer Science Discovery Days for in-person outdoor education.
- Sonoma Overnight Support — $25,000 to pay for the cost of meals to feed over 250 people for one month and offset rising costs involved in bringing food to the growing number of individuals and families who are turning to SOS for support.
- Sonoma Valley Education Foundation (SVEdF) — $25,000 to support an expanded summer school program organized by SVEdF and the school district to address the increased needs of students due to the lack of in-person education during the past year.
- Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance — $25,000 to support the 300 young people mentored each year, by helping to cover expenses and maintain staff at the eight mentoring centers in Sonoma Valley schools.
- Valley Vibes Youth Orchestra — $24,708 to help fund a director, coordinator and teacher for a new intensive music education program created by Valley Vibes to serve Sonoma Valley High School students.
- Vintage House — $25,000 to help provide 350-450 meals per week from June to December 2021 for Sonoma Valley seniors living on a limited income through both pick-up and delivery services.
The Annual Awards Celebration was sponsored by Union Bank.
