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Thomas Fire

33 nonprofit board and staff leaders will graduate as the first cohort of an intensive six-month Board Leadership Institute run by the Center for Nonprofit Leadership at California Lutheran University. The program helps nonprofits affected by the Thomas Fire to hone their skills, improving their staff-board relationships, finance management skills and preparation for future disasters. … The Ventura County Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund received $75,000 from the Ford Motor Company to support long-term Thomas Fire recovery efforts, of which Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County will receive $50,000 of the funds for repairing and rebuilding disaster-damaged homes in the area; The Boys and Girls Clubs of Ventura will receive $25,000 for a teen leadership program that will focus on disaster relief efforts and leadership opportunities, providing the teens with training in volunteering and how to be involved in the community.

In the name of charity

Kindling Studios was awarded $8,400 by the California Arts Council to fund solo artist exhibits at the Arts Collectivein the Pacific View Mall in Ventura. Kindling is a project of Reid’s Gift Inc. in collaboration with the Ventura County Arts Council; it will support 20 artists with disabilities in designing and staffing solo shows in 2019. … Studio Channel Islands (SCI) received $28,820 from the Ventura County Community Foundation funded by the Ruth Daily Livingston Fund, to support its Arts and Health program. The funds will be used to expand SCI’s Memory Cafes (creative social events for individuals with memory loss and their caregivers), art classes with hospice (workshops for children in bereavement counseling) and stroke survivor art classes. … Thousand Oaks’ 5-Star Theatricals launched its third “Adopt-a-Bus” fundraiser to sponsor buses to transport at-risk/at-need children to a complimentary live theater performance of is summer musical theater production of Beauty and the Beast on July 25. The donation needed to sponsor one bus (for 50 kids) is $2,500. Each sponsor will receive recognition from the stage, a half-page business advertisement in the Beauty and the Beast playbill, a signed cast photo, two complimentary orchestra seats for Beauty and the Beast, and a VIP pre-show reception. For more information, visit www.5startheatricals.com/outreach. … The city of Oxnard was recognized by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials for its leadership in organizing and implementing winter warming shelters from 2015 to 2018. Oxnard received the Award of Merit in Housing and Community Development for efforts in collaboration with the city of Ventura and the County of Ventura.

Education

Alexis Figueroa, Sarah Gutierrez and Savanna Toledo received scholarships from Soroptimist International of Camarillo at its Annual Awards Luncheon. The recipients were awarded the annual Amy McAvoy Scholarships, which are intended to support women who are graduating from local high schools and are accepted at Cal State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI), in a STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) major. The $3,000 and $2,500 scholarships are to be used for CSUCI tuition. … The Ventura County Office of Education held a groundbreaking ceremony at 5100 Adolfo Road in Camarillo. The 29,944-square-foot, two-story building will be the new home for Triton Academy, which serves students with autism in grades 3-12; the school is expected to move during the 2019-2020 school year. Meanwhile, Triton is moving out of its campus on Temple Avenue in Camarillo and, beginning this summer, will operate out of temporary facilities near the Camarillo Airport. … CSUCI Nursing program received a $200,000 grant from the Dr. Richard Grossman Community Foundation. In 1969, Grossman opened the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, which has served thousands of burn survivors in need of reconstructive surgery; he died in 2014. The grant will support nursing student scholarships for the CSUCI program, which this year was named the 12th-best in the state, out of 131 programs, by RegisteredNursing.Org. … Hundreds of local students were awarded a total of $1,165,750 in scholarships by the Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF). The 2018 VCCF scholarship program provided 352 scholarships by a multitude of scholarship funds with the help of various donors.