KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Grants given to five local charities.
Five non-profit organizations in the Santa Clarita Valley have a total of $11,000 more to support their program of work, thanks to community grants from Zonta Foundation of SCV.
Zonta presented its 2008 grants at the club’s May business meeting to selected organizations whose work supports the mission of Zonta. Zonta Foundation is the non-profit philanthropic arm of Zonta Club of the SCV, whose mission is to advance the status of women locally and worldwide.
Each year, the Foundation sends out grant applications to non-profit organizations within the Santa Clarita Valley, encouraging them to apply for one of Zonta’s grants to support their specific programs. This year’s recipients were selected from a total of 11 grant applications and the committee was hard pressed to select the winners, according to Grant Committee Chair Chris Miller.
SCV Youth Project received $3,000. The grant will allow them to continue with two very important programs, according to Miller. The Girl’s Issues Group is a support group for adolescent girls, providing a forum to discuss the personal challenges faced by young women in their formative and adolescent years. The Family Issues Group is a bilingual support group for students who are experiencing difficulty with family dynamics due to issues such as divorce, drugs, abuse and family discord.
Single Mother’s Outreach was awarded $1,500. The Zonta Foundation grant will enable the organization to set up The Marketplace, a Web-based program that will support single mothers currently enrolled in their program.
The Foundation for Children’s Dental Health received $3,000. The grant money will go toward enhancing an educational program in local elementary schools. The group also is planning to reach out to low income women and pregnant teens.
Child & Family Center Foundation received $1,500 to set up a voucher program that will help the center’s clients attend their programs. The vouchers will be used to help pay for such things as transportation, child care, gasoline and temporary housing.
The Domestic Violence Center of Santa Clarita Valley will use its $2,000 grant to enhance the quality of child care provided to clients. Specifically, the funds will be used to upgrade and replace the existing playroom equipment and supplies and also to provide a small stipend for those requiring child care while attending the programs at the center.
“It is never an easy task to choose the award winners, as we only have so much money to hand out,” Miller affirmed, “but the committee reviews each application very carefully to make sure their mission statement closely mirrors our own and also to make sure the program they are requesting funds for matches their statements.”
Zonta will follow up with the organizations in six months to verify the use of Foundation funds.
Zonta Foundation raises its grant money through such projects as Rent A Santa, the Celebrity Tribute dinner and the Zonta Golf Tournament.
Members of the grant committee, in addition to Miller, are Karla Edwards, Adele Macpherson, JoAnn Rodriguez, Amira Mendias and Bernie Gilbert.
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