January 2021 Letter from OCF Board Chair Vince Alessi

Greetings Oceanside Community Foundation (OCF) members and friends!

I hope that your 2021 is off to a good start. The OCF Grants Committee members are off to a fast start. Over the holidays they reviewed the 25 applications we received in response to our call for innovative projects that support and promote diversity and inclusion in our community. They will begin the virtual site visits on the selected seven in the coming weeks. I am so appreciative to our incredible Grants Committee volunteers and the time they commit to our community. More to come on that.

You will also notice a name change. The board has voted to change our name from the Oceanside Charitable Foundation to the Oceanside Community Foundation. There was much thought and careful consideration in this change. We felt the word “community” was a much better representation of who we are and what we do. Charity is a natural, emotional impulse to an immediate situation and giving usually occurs in the short-term. Charity can take the form of monetary donations or volunteering. While all that is wonderful, as a community foundation, our purpose is to meet emerging needs by encouraging and increasing responsible and effective philanthropy for all who live, work and play in Oceanside. We feel the word “community” encompasses what we do and have done for the last 13 years better. At the end of the day, it’s about coming together and doing more as a community than as individuals, it’s not about a handout, it’s about making a log lasting impact in Oceanside. I hope you agree!

With that, please enjoy our new member feature – Wheel Pros. We are so grateful for their generosity and investment in our community. And speaking of lasting impact, read about the impact the grant made to Oceanside Promise in 2019. It is incredibly inspiring. Thank you for being part of our community, we appreciate you!

Corporate Member Spotlight: Wheel Pros

Wheel Pros is a leading designer, manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of branded automotive aftermarket wheels, performance tires, suspension products, and other accessories.

Founded in 1995, Wheel Pros serves over 10,000 retailers with an expanding global network of distribution centers spanning North America, Australia, and Europe, as well as a growing ecommerce presence. Wheel Pros has a portfolio of 40 proprietary brands with over 300 custom wheel styles, including some of the most recognized designs in the industry. More information is available at wheelpros.com.

Wheel Pros joined OCF this year to support the communities where its employees live.

Grantee Spotlight: Oceanside Promise

Funded by a generous grant from OCF, the Oceanside Promise Latinx Youth Success Pilot Barrio Empowerment Initiative (LYSPBEI) was launched at the beginning of the Spring 2019 academic term at Oceanside High School and El Camino High School. Working hand-in-hand with 60-plus partner organizations, LYSPBEI was the first in a series of interventions Oceanside Promise has planned to improve student outcomes from grades 6through their first year of college, and promote and assure the success of Oceanside youth in school, college, career and life.

Despite the dramatic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oceanside Promise ended up with 30 students completing the program during the grant period. Over 90 percent of those program graduates began their college and university careers (albeit remotely) during the Fall 2020 academic term.

“Oceanside Community Foundation’s support was fundamentally important for our program,” shared Rafe Trickey, President & CEO of Oceanside Promise. “The funding was unique because it provided critical front-end and significant in-progress financial support throughout the course of the LYSPBEI.  Oceanside Promise could not have conducted this program without the pivotal financial investment OCF made to support the pilot. The members of our Board of Directors, its 60-plus partners, and its staff members remain very grateful to the Oceanside Community Foundation.”