GILROY
– The work of non-profit organizations in Gilroy will be a
little easier thanks to the Gilroy Foundation which recently handed
out more than $31,000 in grants.
GILROY – The work of non-profit organizations in Gilroy will be a little easier thanks to the Gilroy Foundation which recently handed out more than $31,000 in grants.
The Gilroy Foundation awarded 18 local organizations with funding ranging from $500 to $5,000 for educational programs, health services, and recreational and civic groups. Over the last 20 years the foundation has awarded more than $330,000.
“I am always so delighted to see who is chosen for the awards,” said Donna Pray, executive director of the Gilroy Foundation. “They (grant committee members) chose such a broad diversity of groups from this community, and it is so touching to know that so many people will benefit from this.”
The largest recipient of the group is St. Joseph’s Family Center off Church Street in Gilroy. The center received $4,600 to help start an education and recreation program for families at the Ochoa Migrant Center.
The new program is called FIRST 5 Santa Clara County South/East Regional Partnership. It will help bring education to children up to 5 years old and their families in a summer program at the center. This is the first of its kind in the South County area.
“We are so thankful to have received the grant,” said David Cox, who is the director at St. Joseph’s. “This will give us some capital to help with the start-up of our computer and literature courses,” Cox said.
St. Joseph’s is recognized for its generous programs said Pray and was responsible a couple of years ago for implementing a meals for seniors program at Wheeler Manor. Their history of successful programs was one of the reasons the grant committee knew their new program at the migrant center would also be a success, said Pray.
The Gilroy Foundation is also known for awarding a large portion of its grants to musical education programs. The Gilroy Unified School District received more than $4,000 for elementary music classes, while the Brownell Academy received more than $2,000 to purchase new band instruments.
“Our instruments are so old, and they are falling apart,” said Tom Brozene, Brownell school’s band director. “We usually can’t afford to buy new equipment, but with this money we are going to buy some great instruments, we are even going to get a new tympani.”
Another area of the community that is touched by the grants is health and safety. The Gilroy Gang Task Force can now add $1,300 to help with its “Safe Night at San Ysidro Park 2003,” while Community Solutions in South County can upgrade the facilities at its shelter for battered women and their children.
“We want to make sure that these woman feel at home in the middle of their crisis,” said Lisa Desilva, director of community and resource development at Community Solutions. “With this money, we can add some closet organizers and lockers so the women and children can keep their stuff organized.”
The Gilroy Foundation awards money from its annual endowment, which is basically a permanent savings account. For more than two decades, donors have contributed money to increase the general fund to more than $700,000. Each year, the interest generated by the fund is used to award the grants.
In addition to the endowment fund, there are also 27 scholarship accounts that are set up by individuals, families and organizations within the community and are awarded separately to specific areas of interest.
“Thanks to the donors each year the total keeps getting bigger, which is great for us because each year we get to give out more money and continue helping the community,” Pray said.
Non-profit organizations in the community can apply for Gilroy Foundation grants if:
• the new program contributes to a civic, cultural, education, health or artistic enrichment.
• they can become self supporting after the grant money is used.
• the program has local volunteer involvement and support from the organization’s board.
• the program shows is has established its own fiscal responsibilities and a qualified management staff.
For more guidelines, go to www.gilroyfoundation.org . At the site, applications can be downloaded for next year’s grants that must be completed by January.
