With 15 requests for grants totaling over $51,000 this year from other local 501(c) (3) organizations, the Patagonia Regional Community Fund (PRCF), given its available funds to grant of just over $22,000, was forced to make difficult decisions in deciding what grants to make and what grant requests to turn down or limit.
The PRCF Steering Committee and this year’s community guests, invited to participate to help broaden the input into PRCF’s grant decisions, decided to make the following grants:
Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN) and the Patagonia Museum to connect youth and elders, to improve the environment at the Lochiel Schoolhouse which has been restored through a multi-year effort of German Quiroga and the Patagonia Museum, and to support their presentation of Earth Fest which is a combined community celebration of Earth Day, Arbor Day and Arizona Trail Day.
Friends of the Patagonia Library to help purchase new folding chairs used at the Library for various educational and other events held there by a wide variety of local organizations.
Matt Bevel Company to present a state curriculum aligned program at the Patagonia Public Schools to help students learn how to think creatively, intuitively and “outside the box” in the areas of math, physics and mechanics.
Patagonia Creative Arts Association to help it provide a “STEM to STEAM” four-week summer camp for local youth in conjunction with the Patagonia Library.
Town of Patagonia Flood and Flow Committee, Friends of the Sonoita Creek,Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, the Nature Conservancy and BRN to help them obtain the professional planning, engineering and facilitation resources necessary to complete their “Roadmap for Quality” project to protect and enhance the Sonoita Creek watershed.
Patagonia Regional Times to help it obtain donor and customer management software and related training and implementation help. This software will allow PRT to organize and store content in a cloud-based system and organize and grow PRT’s email distribution system.
Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds and Rodeo Association (SCCFRA) to help fund the implementation of Phase Two of its kitchen renovation to commercial standards project. PRCF helped fund Phase One last year and the whole effort has been supported by a wide array of other grants, individual contributions, fund raising, in-kind contributions and help from Santa Cruz County.
Senior Citizens of Patagonia (SCP) to help it purchase a new commercial-grade freezer to replace a defunct old freezer. This new freezer will allow SCP to store food safely and efficiently for its ongoing Congregate Meals Program that provides lunches to area seniors in a setting that fosters social interaction as well as nutrition.
Many of these community efforts supported by PRCF grants are collaborative ventures involving a variety of local organizations. Such collaborative efforts are favored by PRCF to better take advantage of our many local, often complementary resources and of PRCF’s limited funds available to grant.
If you would like to help contribute to PRCF online through the website of PRCF’s partner, the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF), at azfoundation.org/Patagonia or by sending a check made out to PRCF to ACFs Southeast Arizona Regional Office at 400 W Fry Bvld., Suite 6, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635.