Three finalists have been selected from more than a dozen applicants for the annual Women’s Giving Fund grant that supports local women and children.
The fund is run through the Park City Community Foundation. The chair of the grants committee is Dalia Gonzalez.
“For several weeks, we were looking through the applications of 18 nonprofits in our community that submitted their application,” Gonzalez said. “ We narrowed it down to three finalists, it was really difficult. A lot of the nonprofits in our community are great, doing great work for children and women in the community. And we know that these last three finalists, even though there is a huge lump sum of the grant that's going to be awarded to one, all three are already winners.”
The three finalists include SOS Outreach, PC Tots and Summit Community Gardens and EATS.
If SOS Outreach wins, it plans to expand its program for more than 500 youth to develop leadership and help with career development while skiing and snowboarding.
PC Tots was the first-ever recipient of the annual grant, receiving $30,000 in 2015. If selected this year, PC Tots will provide kindergarten readiness skills for children through tuition assistance for families and wage increases for staff.
Summit Community Gardens and EATS would use the grant money to create a food pharmacy providing fresh local produce for women facing food hardship and provide long terms solutions for good health.
Community Foundation Development Manager Rebecca Blanchette said organizations like PC Tots, which have received grants, are able to apply for another after three years.
"One thing that I think is really cool about this story is that was their seed money, that's how PC Tots got started," Blanchette said. “It's been almost 10 years since they've won that award. And they used that $30,000 to open their first center where they were serving 45 children. And today they operate two centers and they serve 100 children.”
Today, with more than 2,000 members, she said the organization has changed how new memberships are used.
“When we have dollars come in, half will go to the endowment as it always has, and half will go to current use fundraising,” she said. “Which means that those dollars will go back out the door within the next year.”
For voting members who would like to learn more about the finalists, they will be at Lucky Ones in the lobby of the Park City Library Thursday, June 29, at 9 a.m. Voting ends July 10.
For those who would like to vote, you can purchase a membership before then. Members must RSVP to attend the July 12 grant celebration at Red Pine Lodge.
