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The numbers are in!
The Pleasanton Weekly’s annual Holiday Fund raised more than $74,000 in the 2021-22 campaign, thanks to the strong support of more than 310 donors who contributed to the cause.
A unique match by our new fiscal sponsor, Three Valleys Community Foundation (3VCF), elevated the grand total to an even $80,000.
The $80,000 will be distributed equally among the campaign’s eight 2021-22 nonprofit beneficiaries: Axis Community Health, City Serve of the Tri-Valley, Hope Hospice, Open Heart Kitchen, Pleasanton Partnerships in Education (PPIE), Sunflower Hill, Tri-Valley REACH and Valley Humane Society.
This year’s campaign was managed by Three Valleys because we saw the benefit of partnering with a local community foundation — a new and much-needed organization in our backyard. With 3VCF being headquartered in Pleasanton and serving the Tri-Valley, its leaders see the needs of our neighbors through a local lens and have already established relationships with donors and nonprofits.
It is a privilege to be the first organization in the region to open a fund with 3VCF, which incorporated in June 2021 and officially launched in November 2021.
“It has been an honor to partner with the Pleasanton Weekly on their 2021 Holiday Fund,” said John Sensiba, chairman of the Board of Directors for 3VCF. “The generosity and tremendous philanthropic spirit of the donors to this campaign is inspiring. We are proud to have managed the administration of this campaign, by absorbing all fees and providing a match. We send our sincere thanks to donors who contributed to support these very worthy nonprofits.”
The uses of the money raised by the Holiday Fund are diverse, but all are impactful.
For example, Axis Community Health, which provides medical, dental and behavioral health services for low-income and uninsured families throughout the Tri-Valley, said funds received this year will be used to purchase blood pressure cuffs for in-home use for vulnerable seniors who have hypertension.
“When the COVID-19 health crisis began in March of 2020, Axis quickly moved to providing medical visits by telephone and by video. While telehealth visits have allowed for ongoing care, it is challenging to manage patients with hypertension over many months via only telehealth,” Valerie Jonas, chief development officer at Axis, explained.
The blood pressure cuffs will enable patients to check their blood pressure regularly and data is entered into the patients’ medical charts, “allowing our medical team to identify quickly any patient who is not doing well with their current hypertension treatment plan,” Jonas said.
Open Heart Kitchen’s planned use for the $10,000 is also affected by the pandemic.
“Since COVID-19, OHK has seen a significant increase in the demand for emergency food, and has shifted operations to provide food in to-go containers for pick up only,” OHK’s development director Denise Bridges said. “One in five residents in Alameda County is experiencing or is at risk of food insecurity — the lack of access to nutritious food.”
Valley Humane Society will be using its $10,000 to help offset the operational expense associated with opening a surgery center this year and for its Animeals program to help “meet the needs of community members who can’t afford to feed their animals,” Melanie Sadek, VHS’s executive director, told us.
According to Jennifer Pettley from Hope Hospice, the funds simply “makes it possible for Hope to continue offering its many community service programs at no charge to help families, such as advanced illness care, grief support, dementia care support, family caregiving education, and more.”
The Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund was launched 20 years ago to “help alleviate the needs that exist, despite our community’s prosperity.” Today we still strive to meet the unfunded and under-funded needs of Tri-Valley agencies through the annual campaign.
“This is exactly the type of partnership our foundation wants to support,” noted Nelson Fialho, Three Valleys’ interim CEO. “Community foundations connect generous donors with the needs of the community. We could not have asked for a more wonderful opportunity to serve as our inaugural field-of-interest fund.”
We appreciate that 3VCF did not charge to manage the Holiday Fund and absorbed associated fees so 100% of funds donated are returned to the community.
Moreover, words cannot express how grateful we are to 3VCF for the generous match that bumped the total amount to $80,000. On behalf of our staff, the nonprofits and our community, thank you!
We would also like to thank readers for supporting our community and neighbors with your donations.
Look for information about the 2022-23 Holiday Fund campaign in November.
