News Releases

Foundation Funding Supports Seven Organizations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2010

Media Contacts:
Dan DeSantis, Chief Executive Officer, and Carla Jackson-Tucker, Program Officer; 559-226-5600

$100,000 Awarded for Arts & Culture

Fresno, CA – Seven Community Benefit Organizations are being recognized with an Arts & Culture Grant Award at a reception on March 31, 2010. The Board of Directors at the Fresno Regional Foundation has approved the grants totaling $100,000 in support of the Foundation’s mission to improve the quality of life in the Central San Joaquin Valley through philanthropy.
The seven organizations receiving grants are: City of Farmersville, Fresno Philharmonic Association, Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County, Lively Arts Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California, Children’s Musical Theaterworks, and Mariposa County Arts Council.
“We are pleased to recognize these outstanding organizations,” said Dan DeSantis, CEO of the Fresno Regional Foundation. “We hope the investment in these programs will help the organizations remain vital and relevant in our community.”

Fresno Regional Foundation’s Arts & Culture goals are designed to fund programs that use Arts & Culture to stimulate the community educationally and economically; to support programs that enrich the diverse culture of the Central San Joaquin Valley; and increase awareness, participation, and understanding in arts and culture activities.

Grants approved as part of these goals include a $35,000 grant to the City of Farmersville in support of its Farmersville Community Center Stage project. This grant project will help the City of Farmerville construct an elevated, wooden stage in its new Community Center. The Center is under construction and set for completion in August 2010. The stage will be utilized by more than 300 students in the Boys and Girls Club of the Sequoias, which will be headquartered in the new facility. The stage will also be a venue for concerts, plays and presentations in Farmersville.

About the Fresno Regional Foundation:
The Fresno Regional Foundation is a nonprofit community foundation whose purpose is to improve the quality of life in the Central San Joaquin Valley through philanthropy. It is the channel through which individuals, families, businesses, private foundations, and nonprofit organizations give in order to obtain maximum impact of their philanthropy. The Foundation’s grantmaking has four focus areas: Arts & Culture, Youth, Human Services, and Environment.

Since 1966, the Foundation has been enriching the artistic, cultural and natural beauty of the region, addressing social issues, and through the continued support of local Community Benefit Organizations, improving conditions for the community it serves. In 2009, with over $45 million in assets, the Foundation gave over $9 million in grants that serve the Central San Joaquin Valley.

The Fresno Regional Foundation is an affiliate of the National Council on Foundations and a member of the League of California Community Foundations. For more information about the Fresno Regional Foundation, please visit www.fresnoregfoundation.org or call 559-226-5600.

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