VCCF Disaster Relief Update: Additional Financial Support Awarded
Dear Ventura County Community Foundation Family,
The devastating impact as a result of the Thomas Fire continues, and we are hard at work to help serve our community and those in need as much as we can.
I’m writing this email to share that I just received 100% VCCF Board approval for several additional grants from our Sudden and Urgent Needs Fund, in addition to a strategic grant to the Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Cal Lutheran. The VCCF has already awarded over $1 million to our local nonprofit organizations since the start of this disaster, most of these dollars awarded within the first three weeks, and we will continue our support as we concentrate on the mid- to long-term needs.
This round of funding exhausts our Sudden and Urgent Needs Fund and we are redoubling our efforts to raise more funds as we acknowledge that there remains tremendous need for these type of dollars.
Today’s additional grants include:
- Moorpark Boys and Girls Club – $1,000 for the deductible for their insurance company to fix their damaged roof caused by the extreme winds during the fire.
- Boys and Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley – $8,042.22 to cover costs associated with school closures during the fire – they are serving families in three communities (Santa Paula, Fillmore, and Piru) within our county.
- Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center (SPARC) – $7,200 to cover boarding fees, overtime pay, mileage, transportation costs, and adoption fees as a result of the fire.
An additional grant to the Center for Nonprofit Leadership of $3,500 from the Ventura County Community Disaster Relief Fund will cover training of our region’s nonprofit sector by bringing in an expert consultant to train local organizations on how to fundraise during and after a period of a disaster. This includes training organizations not participating in the direct relief efforts. This is critical and urgent as many nonprofits experience a significant and immediate decline of fundraising revenue during periods of disaster, yet our community’s most vulnerable depend on them even more during these tragic times for vital services. We have been told that the nonprofits in Sonoma County experienced an approximate 30% decline in fundraising revenue this year due to the Northern California fires. We must help our local organizations during this time to prevent this same of loss of revenue and the very unfortunate consequences that loss of funding would cause.
I’ll be in touch very soon to share even more information with you about our relief efforts. In the meantime, I hope to see each of you at the Thomas Fire Benefit Festival on February 3rd (from 2:00 p.m. – 10 p.m.). I will be sending more information on this fabulous event early next week, but in the meantime, tickets are running out and I encourage you to visit www.thomasfirebenefit.com for event tickets, sponsorship opportunities, and more details. We cannot express enough our gratitude for these tremendous leaders in our community that have put this phenomenal event together!
Best,
Vanessa