The Community Foundation for San Benito County is a wonderful organization that has had a huge impact locally. It not only is a strong vehicle for directing financial support to those most in need within our community, but it also has been instrumental in nurturing and supporting many other non-profits throughout Hollister and San Benito County.
As an advocate, former board member, and long-time supporter of CASA of San Benito County, I witnessed the support and education that the Community Foundation of San Benito County offered CASA as a new non-profit over a decade ago. As a volunteer with the Foundation, they opened my eyes to the vast number of needs in our community. It isn't hard to see that the work they are doing is invaluable and improves the lives of those who receive it. Community Foundation helped the Women's Club of Hollister establish a fund to provide scholarships to senior girls, to give much needed comfort bundles to children entering foster care, and provide donations to other non-profits who help women and children of our community.
The Community Foundation for San Benito County plays a unique and important role in our area. Their grant-making is effective in targeting local needs. The Foundation also assists local donors in achieving their charitable goals. I feel the Community Foundation is very agile in adjusting to changing needs and issues.
First off, as a news organization, I will be upfront and say that there has been a close working relationship between BenitoLink and the Community Foundation for San Benito County (CFFSBC) since day one. Our nonprofit news website was originally a project the community foundation took on to provide San Benito residents with a dependable news source. In 2015, BenitoLink separated from the CFFSBC and was approved as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
We continue to work together on many things from getting information out about events, achievements, ongoing projects and pushing out essential content like disaster or emergency information.
For a small county, we are so fortunate to have the community foundation. The CFFSBC is the central organization in our community when it comes to reaching nonprofits trying to help solve community needs. It is very helpful to us as a news organization contacting them because they have their fingers on the pulse of the community when it comes to nonprofit services. They help the residents of the county for specific needs as well as the whole population when there are emergencies or unexpected events.
On a personal level, my experience has been that the CFFSBC staff, volunteers and board care about this county and they find their work rewarding. They are easy to communicate with and are dedicated to improving the quality of life for all San Benito residents.
Chamberlain’s Youth Services has always had a great relationship with the Community Foundation, who, over the years, has provided much guidance, grants, educational seminars and more to help CYS achieve its many goals. The relationship has become even stronger during these challenging pandemic times as they thought outside the box in order to help the local nonprofits raise critical funds without their traditional fundraisers. Their fresh idea was to hold the first ever community wide virtual auction, which was very successful and assisted the participants in raising much needed funds to continue their missions. The Community Foundation also worked with the County and United Way to disperse grant funding in the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdown so essentials and more could be purchased. They were one of the leaders lending a wonderful helping hand when it was needed most and they continue today to serve in many ways. The Chamberlain’s board, staff and children are deeply grateful for their commitment for a better community and for their continued support of Chamberlain’s!
Starting a new non-profit agency is a difficult endeavor. However, with much guidance and advice from supporters and its community, a non-profit agency can be successful and thriving. As a new non-profit starting in San Benito County 13 years ago, we received strong support from the Community Foundation for San Benito County. Gary and his staff provided much needed guidance and introduced us to many other knowledgable professionals. We were able to establish a strong foundation to build an organization that serves the needs of foster children from our community. We are grateful for the partnership and support!
The Community Foundation for San Benito County is a small, but important organization serving nonprofits. The Foundation fosters a culture of collaboration between nonprofit partners to improve communication and delivery of services to those in our community who are most in-need. Additionally, board and staff are passionate, caring community members who are committed to the betterment of this unique county.
I thought this fund would benifit the community that I live in, but I have come to find that they are more than happy to spend your charity in poorly reasearched endevours in hope to get more money. You might find your money given to there lawyers to bulldog private citizens into situations a charity of any merit would scoff and frown at.