October 18, 2016 – Ramona, CA – Ramona Community Foundation (RCF), an affiliate of The San Diego Foundation, awarded $39,700 in funding to 10 nonprofits at its Annual Grants Celebration on October 13 at Schwaesdall Winery. RCF focused its 2016-2017 grantmaking on projects specifically for Ramona that demonstrate the power to build a more vibrant and civically engaged community

The programs funded include: ArtReach Access to Art Program with ArtReach ($7,000); Healthy Girls, Healthy Life Project with Girls on the Run San Diego ($3,500); On-site and Off-site Sessions with Heart and Hooves Therapy, Inc. ($3,000); Ramona Sobering Center with In His Steps Christian Recovery Homes ($3,500); Senior Companion Program with Lutheran Social Services of Southern California ($3,500); Giving and Giving: A Food Drive and Delivery with Promising Futures, Inc. ($2,000); Ramona Junior Fair, Inc. ($6,700); Ramona Meals on Wheels ($4,000); Trauma Intervention Programs of San Diego, Inc. ($3,500); and Take Note: Music in the Schools Program with Young Audiences of San Diego ($3,000).

“Over the past five years, Ramona Community Foundation has granted more than $150,000 to 42 programs supporting a variety of needs in Ramona,” shared Paul Zawilenski, RCF Board Chair. “Combined with an endowment of $62,069, RCF members have generated a $200,000 impact in Ramona. RCF members are engaged with and educated about the community’s needs. Each year’s grantmaking focuses on those unique and evolving challenges, while enhancing the quality of life for those who live, work and play in Ramona.”

Feeding America San Diego (FASD) is one of the recent grantees. In 2015, FASD received a $4,773 grant from RCF responding to the need to serve residents who are facing hunger. The grant supported the Mobile Pantry, a hunger-relief program providing underserved families with food, clothing and other resources. FASD partnered with Ramona Food and Clothes Closet’s Mobile Pantry to deliver food to neighborhoods that have a high incidence of poverty and lack access to transportation, but experience relatively low levels of emergency food assistance.

“Grant support from the Ramona Community Foundation allowed us to provide 36,295 pounds of food to Ramona Food and Clothes Closet,” shared Arielle Golden, San Diego Programs Manager at Feeding America. “To date, funding has provided over 2,500 households with healthy food and fresh produce. Additionally, continual partnership between FASD and Ramona Food and Clothes Closet, with additional support from the Ramona Community Foundation, provided FASD with new leadership opportunities to facilitate positive change on the landscape of hunger relief in Ramona.”

RCF is dedicated to improving the quality of life and meeting emerging needs in Ramona by increasing responsible and effective philanthropy; building a community endowment for the benefit of the region; providing funds annually to community organizations and causes, and giving the community a vehicle for legacy planning and gifts that will benefit Ramona now and forever.

To become a member, visit the RCF site or contact Trudy Armstrong at (619) 814-1312 or e-mail trudy@sdfoundation.org.

About the 2016 Grantees:

ArtReach
ArtReach Access to Art Program: Visual Arts Education at Ramona Elementary School
ArtReach believes that socioeconomic status and geographic location should not prevent Ramona Elementary students from receiving the same opportunities as wealthier schools. With a grant of $7,000, the program will bring new art materials and techniques to Ramona Elementary, and will offer 10 lessons to all 4th and 5th graders, in addition to one lesson to the entire school. The program also seeks to connect the school to the larger community through ideas and real-life experiences.

Girls on the Run San Diego
Healthy Girls, Healthy Life Project
Healthy Girls, Healthy Life Project is a uniquely-structured program that offers an effective youth-mentoring experience for participants. The program includes lessons on self-awareness, team building, and community responsibility that will challenge minds and foster personal growth. With a grant of $3,500, 35 girls will be provided with a full-scholarship for a program site in the Ramona community.

Heart and Hooves Therapy, Inc
On-site and Off-site Sessions and Visits
The grant of $3,000 will aid the program that provides mini-horses and other animals that are used to teach basic horse safety, hoof care and grooming. The program incorporates educational games into each session to teach confidence, courage and respect with our on-site sessions. Hearts and Hooves also travels off-site and visits many local senior centers, schools, assisted living facilities and individual homes in Ramona.

In His Steps Christian Recovery Homes
Ramona Sobering Center
The purpose of the grant is to provide a non-medical sobering center for law enforcement or private individuals to bring an intoxicated person, thus providing an alternative to jail or hospitalization. This will aid in the efforts to remove people from risky situations and place them in an environment to help sustain personal growth. With a grant of $3,500, there will be an impact on the lives of those in recovery and aid in re-entry to society through a 24-hour recovery center in Ramona.

Lutheran Social Services of Southern California (LSS)
Senior Companion Program
LSS provides critical needs support, supportive services, housing, case management, mental health services and advocacy to vulnerable populations. With a grant of $3,500, LSS will expand Senior Companion Program operations in Ramona by utilizing active seniors to assist isolated seniors with services to allow them to remain in their homes and improve their quality of life.

Promising Futures, Inc. (PFI)
Giving and Giving: A Food Drive and Delivery
PFI is committed to providing quality care for the developmentally disabled population. Currently, PFI administers three homes and a day vocational training program that serves over 60 clients. With a grant of $2,000, PFI will support training for individuals with developmental disabilities on how to use Adobe software to create flyers for both those who can give food or money and for those who need the food. Two hundred families in need in Ramona will also be served as people with disabilities will be involved in the pick-up and delivery of food.

Ramona Junior Fair, Inc.
Purchase of One Industrial Ceiling Fan for Ramona Junior Fair Barn
The Ramona Junior Fair puts on a week-long annual event that features livestock, a home economics show, a competition and an auction. With a grant of $6,700, Ramona Junior Fair will purchase a large industrial fan for one of the barns.

Ramona Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels
The nutrition program serves lunch to 200 seniors five times each week with each meal designed to provide one third of the calories and nutrition that a senior needs each day. With the rising costs in fuel and food, the $4,000 grant will support food, fuel and payroll expenses.

Trauma Intervention Programs of San Diego, Inc. (TIP)
Crisis Intervention
TIP provides emotional and practical support to citizens in crisis immediately following a tragic event. With a grant of $3,500, TIP will offer the Ramona Fire Department an opportunity to receive ongoing training on how to request TIP volunteers out on scene immediately to serve the citizens of Ramona.

Young Audiences of San Diego (Arts for Learning San Diego)
Take Note: Music in the Schools
The purpose of this $3,000 grant is to offer assembly programs in the Ramona Unified School District to provide students an introduction to music and offer interactive lessons on music style, history and cultural heritage.

About the Ramona Community Foundation & the Regional Affiliate Program

The Regional Affiliate program, including the Ramona Community Foundation, was established by The San Diego Foundation to create a regional network of affiliate foundations by leveraging local leadership, building endowments, increasing impactful philanthropy, and promoting civic engagement. Affiliates reside in Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Escondido, La Jolla, Oceanside, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, San Ysidro, and 4S Ranch-Del Sur. The Regional Affiliate program has exceeded 700 members, established endowments of more than $4 million overall, and granted more than $4.4 million in total to nonprofit organizations throughout the region.

About The San Diego Foundation

The San Diego Foundation maximizes the impact of charitable giving to enact positive social change in our region. We mobilize resources to advance quality of life, increase social impact and champion civic engagement though effective, responsible and innovative philanthropy. We are your community foundation committed to arts & culture, civil society, education, environment, health and human services, and youth development to build equity and opportunity for all San Diegans. For more than 40 years, The Foundation and our donors have granted more than $998 million to grow a vibrant San Diego region. For more information, visit our website and consider a donation to the Fund for the Future Endowment which supports San Diego now and forever.

Contacts

Vince Heald, Beck Ellman Heald, 858-453-9600, vheald@behmedia.com
Justin Nunez, The San Diego Foundation, 619-235-2300, justin@sdfoundation.org