July 2021 Letter from ECF Board Chair Ken Lounsbery

Welcome to summer and the opportunity to get out and see one another again. It was absolutely wonderful to see our members who were able to attend the Ballot Presentation event on July 26 at Forgotten Barrel in Escondido. Even if you were unable to attend, you should have received your ballot and ballot summaries. Your vote is due by August 4.

Please participate in this critical piece of the work that we do!

Our 2021 grant focus addresses mental health and behavioral issues created by the pandemic. The focus is “Improving Social and Emotional Well-Being in the Community”, and programs could address any of the following issues: social isolation; anxiety, depression and suicide; abuse; and support of our youth.

I am pleased to take the helm of the Escondido Community Foundation (ECF) as of July 1. Please join me in thanking our outgoing chair, Jack Raymond. Jack, who was our founding chair in 2007, has led our Foundation over the last year. It was a groundbreaking year; the last 18 months have been unprecedented, and the needs created by the COVID outbreak have been many. Your Board took immediate action and granted, not from your grantmaking dollars but from earnings on our general endowment and matching funds, over $100,000 in COVID-19 recovery grants to support COVID-19 community relief during the last year.

With our grantmaking and our endowment (which is only $100,000 short of two million dollars…) we have had an impact of $6,897,846 in our community since our inception. This impact is from your $1,000 donation each year, demonstrating the amazing power of pooling our philanthropic dollars! We are better together!

Please remember that we are constantly granting out our dollars into the community and are in great need of your continued support of our work.

As the rest of the year unfolds, we look forward to getting together again in late September to celebrate your generosity and the impact of that generosity! Watch your emails for updates on the next opportunity to gather.

In the meantime, have a wonderful and safe summer. If you have friends you think might join us in making a difference in our beloved community, please share our video.

Contact Trudy Armstrong at trudy@sdfoundation.org or (619) 764-8602 to assist in the invitation to ECF membership.

Your commitment to preseving and protecting the future of our community through your donations to our Community Foundation is making Escondido a better place to live, work and play.

Please know how much your generosity is appreciated,
Ken Lounsbery, Chair

Member Spotlight: Ken Lounsbery

Ken Lounsbery is among the original founders of the Escondido Community Foundation. He served as the City Attorney in San Marcos and was the City Attorney, then City Manager, of Escondido. Ken served as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Palomar Health District and is a past President of the Escondido Chamber of Commerce. He now has his own private law firm.

Ken has been a resident of North County for over 50 years. When asked what he thinks about ECF, he said, “The Escondido Community Foundation is the most fulfilling charitable commitment I’ve ever experienced. Every year, it’s so heart-warming to witness, first-hand, the benefit of giving grants to the most deserving service providers in our local community. It keeps me coming back every year.”

We are honored to have Ken serve as our new ECF Board Chair, and thank him for his continued dedication to our organization!   

Grantee Spotlight: San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum

San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum (SDCDM) inspires children to learn about our world through exploration, imagination, and experimentation. With the generous support of the Escondido Community Foundation and The San Diego Foundation, SDCDM served over 2,800 Escondido Union School District students and teachers through Virtual Workshops. Totaling more than $35,000, the grants provided by both foundations allowed the Museum to supplement the cost of workshops in the areas of art and science for many low-income and Title-I schools. 

“Our Virtual Workshops are a testament to our commitment to hands-on, innovative, and accessible early childhood education,” said Krishna Kabra, Executive Director of SDCDM. “Without the generous support of the Escondido Community Foundation and The San Diego Foundation, we would not have been able to support our community in this capacity.” 

The Museum’s Virtual Workshops also received the 2020 State of California Superintendent’s Award for excellence in museum education, an award made possible by the funding provided.