HINTZ & BALVIN COMMUNICATIONS NEWS
695 So. Catalina Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91106

Contact: Christle Balvin
(626) 792-6463 IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PASADENA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GIVES $542,932 IN GRANTS TO ADDRESS LOCAL NEEDS

The folks over at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music are playing a happy tune because they can finally install a new roof with money from a 2005 Major Grant awarded them by the Pasadena Community Foundation. Not too far away, painters are giving a face lift to the Bishop Gooden Home, the recipient of a 2005 Regular Grant also from the Pasadena Community Foundation. All together, 40 local non-profit organizations were just notified in May 2005 that they have received a portion of the $542,932 in Major Grants, Regular Grants and other special grants distributed by the Pasadena Community Foundation so far this year.

The Pasadena Community Foundation received pproximately 65 grant applications from non-profit organizations serving the needs of our community and visited most of them to better understand their needs. From these requests, 40 were selected to receive grants. Regular Grants range from around $800 for the laptop computer requested by the Pasadena Arts Council to a maximum of $8,000 for play equipment requested by the Altadena Christian Children’s Center.

Major Grants from the Pasadena Community Foundation generally do not exceed $50,000. They fund requests for items such as the sun protector awning for the therapy pool and automatic doors to accommodate wheelchairs requested by the AAF Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. Or they might cover the purchase of a van like the one asked for by the YMCA or a Continuum MR Compatible Infusion System needed by the Huntington Medical Research Institutes. All are vitally important to the continuing operation of these non-profit agencies.

The Pasadena Community Foundation also administers several special grant programs such as the Great Ideas Grant of $10,000 which this year went to Young & Healthy for a new program about obesity-related medical problems. The Crumb Fund Medical Research Grant went to the Huntington Medical Research Institutes for a Cancer Genetics program. An anonymous donor provided a $6,000 grant to bring live performances of classic plays by Parson’s Nose Productions into the Pasadena Schools. And the Board recognized two retiring Board Members for their 10 years of invaluable service by awarding them discretionary funds of $10,000 or a total of $20,000 that they gave to the charities of their choice.

For over fifty years, the Pasadena Community Foundation has been helping the non-profit community respond to local needs. Its ability to serve will increase substantially this year with the announcement by PARAID, another outstanding Pasadena-based foundation, that it would be joining with the Pasadena Community Foundation to better serve the community. According to Jennifer DeVoll, Executive Director of the Pasadena Community Foundation, “we welcome the PARAID members into the group of donors who support causes they care about through the foundation.” Some of the cost savings achieved by bringing these two organizations together will go directly into the Foundation’s local grants budget and have a positive impact on the non-profit community.

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