Patagonia Creative Arts Association (PCAA) summer campers gather on the steps of the Patagonia Museum last June at the opening of an exhibit of the children’s work. Both the Museum and the PCAA, as well as several other local nonprofits, received grants from the Patagonia Regional Community Fund. File photo by Marion Vendituoli

News Release

The Patagonia Regional grant cycle recently announced its 2023 grants totaling $25,300 to area nonprofits. In addition, the Burton Family Foundation, a Supporting Organization of the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), and the local Mar-Walt ACF Donor Advised Fund, have made additional grants of over $35,000 to area nonprofits in conjunction with Patagonia Regional grantmaking process, for a total of over $60,000 in grants benefiting the community this year.

The organizations receiving funding offer services that benefit local seniors, children and students, visitors to our area, those interested in the arts, those who use the Aquatic Center (the pool on the school grounds) and Richardson Park, those who attend sporting and other events at the Patagonia Schools, those who hike in our beautiful corner of the world, those who visit the Patagonia Museum, and those who are concerned about the condition and future of the Sonoita Creek, as well as the PRT. 

Grants have been made to 13 organizations for the following purposes:

Borderlands Restoration Network to support Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY) employing local youth to paint a large mural on the side of a house facing Richardson Park in cooperation with the Patagonia Creative Arts Association.

Family Health Care Amigos (FHA) to cover the cost of repairing the roof of FHA’s building housing its Purple Elephant shop to prevent future leaks and to repair the damage done by previous leaks, and thus support FHA’s programs that lend durable medical equipment and provide incontinence supplies to area seniors.

Friends of the Sonoita Creek to help create baseline data to enable it to better identify and evaluate any future changes in the water flows and water quality of Sonoita Creek.

Society for Bevel Intentions to support the creation of its Universe Within Module 4: Making Music. The Universe Within Modules are beginning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning programs that are tested and taught in the Patagonia Public and Montessori Schools, as well as other schools.

Mountain Empire Trail Association to contract with BECY for local youth employed by BECY to remove invasive plants on the Mountain Empire Trail to the east of Patagonia, and to then plant native species adjoining the trail and to otherwise maintain the trail.

Patagonia Creative Arts Association (PCAA) to replace and upgrade the computer system that PCAA uses in its operations.

Patagonia Museum to replace the existing ceiling fans in the Museum with new, more energy efficient ceiling fans to reduce the Museum’s utility costs and make the Museum more comfortable year-round.

Patagonia Parent Teacher Booster Club to help it improve its school concession program that is operated by student and parent volunteers to provide food and snacks at school events and raise money for school related activities.

Patagonia Regional Aquatic Center (PRAC) to recruit, hire and train lifeguards so the pool can be used by area children, seniors and other swimmers, and to help PRAC attain a large matching grant from the Legacy Foundation to enable PRAC to purchase and install a heating system for the pool to allow it to remain open earlier and later each year.

Patagonia Regional Times to help develop a sponsorship program to provide a more dependable source of revenue to support the paper.

Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center to provide a variety of personal care, sanitary and school supplies to local youth needing them, as well as storage for those supplies.

Senior Citizens of Patagonia to purchase and install a new sturdy metal handrail to allow area seniors to enter and exit the Community Center safely.

Sky Island Tourism Association to have murals painted on the inside walls of the caboose that now serves as our area Visitors Center.

The Patagonia Regional Community Fund (PRCF) is a collection of endowed funds housed at the Arizona Community Foundation. Patagonia Regional Community grants are awarded by a committee made up of local volunteers who have the difficult task of deciding which projects can be funded. The needs are great and requests routinely exceed funds available by more than three to one. This year, over $75,000 in grants were requested while $25,300 was available to grant.

Please support the PRCF to help our community if you can. You can give online at azfoundation.org/Patagonia or send a check to PRCF to the Regional Office of the Arizona Community Foundation, P.O. Box 1085, Benson, Ariz. 85602. If you are interested in starting your own Donor Advised Fund, you may contact Angie Laskarides, ACF’s Senior Regional Director, at 520-439-0595 or ALaskarides@azfoundation.org.Â