April 2021 Letter from CCF Board Chair Justin Peek

Greetings members and friends, and happy spring!

I don’t know about you, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of this pandemic. It makes me excited and hopeful about our future.

Thank you to those who were able to join us for our virtual Ballot and Donuts event! The Broad Street donuts were delicious of course, but I especially enjoyed hearing from the Grants Committee and learning more about our 2022 grant finalists.

This year’s Membership Ballot includes organizations that reflect the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation’s (CCF’s) continued high standard of giving. In the last few months, the Grants Committee reviewed an impressive 48 applications and conducted 10 site visits.

The recipients of the COVID-19 relief funding will be announced in the next coming weeks.

We are grateful to our members for your support and The San Diego Foundation for the additional grant dollars. This will only allow us to make that much more of an impact in Carlsbad. Though there is a light beginning to shine, our nonprofits still need us more than ever. We look forward to sharing our finalists very soon.

Please enjoy our latest member spotlight from new member Natori Moore. We are so grateful for her investment in Carlsbad with CCF!

We also have a great update to share from CCF grantee ProduceGood. We are honored to be their community partner and supporter!

Member Spotlight: Natori Moore

Growing up in Solana Beach, Natori Moore has lived in San Diego’s North County most of her life. And for the past 12 years, she has lived near the Poinsettia Coaster Station in Carlsbad.

She enjoys taking the Coaster train to Carlsbad Village, Old Town or downtown San Diego. She is a writer/editor in the education department at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which has had its world headquarters in Carlsbad since 1996.

One of her favorite motivational quotes is from Rosalynn Carter, who said, “I believe that one of the most important things to learn in life is that you can make a difference in your community no matter who you are or where you live.”

Natori joined CCF not long after attending the CCF Zoom holiday gathering in December 2020 and reconnecting with CCF board member Renee Cohen after many years.

Natori shares, “I joined the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation because I was pleased to learn how CCF invests membership dues and to see the variety of local organizations who receive practical help from CCF’s giving. I am proud to become a part of an organization that is such a well-established force for good in our community.” 

Nonprofit Spotlight: ProduceGood

Thanks to the generous support of CCF and its members, ProduceGood is working to build community awareness and local resources in Carlsbad for long-term sustainability.

ProduceGood is recruiting volunteers and growers within the city to efficiently recover surplus produce that goes directly to local organizations that feed, rather than into countywide distribution.

Their outreach relies heavily on the videos funded by their recent CCF grant, which increase awareness about food waste and hunger prevention and mobilize community participation in ProduceGood gleaning activities in Carlsbad. 

More than halfway through the project, ProduceGood has already increased their number of growers and volunteers, as well as developed a partnership with the Carlsbad Flower Fields, where they picked their blueberry patch 22 times, resulting in over 3,000 servings for food-insecure individuals during the pandemic.

ProduceGood has created three videos showing community unity through the COVID-19 pandemic, the benefits of gleaning, and how the city of Carlsbad is empowering their own residents to keep surplus backyard fruit out of landfills.

“We have had challenges with traditional outreach due to social distancing, but this challenge has really become a community opportunity through the desire many have had to make a difference during these difficult times,” said Alexandra White, ProduceGood Executive Director, Strategy & Development. “These have been exciting projects to create, and we look forward to achieving the rest of our goals by the end of this project.”