Spirits were soaring Tuesday night as 53 area nonprofits were the recipients of the Community Fund which consists of hundreds of large and small donations pooled together with the purpose of strengthening nonprofits that provide important services.
Lucky Ones Coffee employs individuals with disabilities at its two locations in Park City and Kamas. Executive Director Katie Manhart said the nonprofit has doubled its staff to 27 employees this year.
With these funds, Lucky Ones will open Phase 2 of its Kamas expansion that will include inclusive cooking classes as well as nutritional meal prep classes for adults with disabilities who live on their own.
“It's bigger than just the coffee shop," said Manhart. "What we do there is we provide the opportunities to create full, meaningful lives and lifelong education after age 21."
She said for adults with disabilities, 90% of their time is spent in front of a screen. “And so we're getting people out of the house, continuing to learn, providing opportunities, getting them out in front of people in the community and creating space for them.”
The grants ranged from $2,500 to $17,000 and were awarded to nonprofits that address critical community needs including mental health support, affordable child care and housing, open space and more. KPCW was among the grant recipients. A full list of grantees is available at ParkCitycf.org.
Deer Valley Resort hosted the event at Snow Park Lodge and contributed $100,000 to the fund bringing the total to $425,000. The Community Fund is now in its 16th year and has given over $2.65 million to nonprofits.
The foundation also recognized longtime resident Sydney Reed with the Trisha J. Worthington Community Service Award, given annually to a local who has been generous with their time and talent to charitable endeavors.
PCCF’s Vice President of Communications and Marketing Christine Coleman said donors make the Community Fund possible so nonprofits can offer critical services the government and other organizations can’t provide. “Our nonprofit sector and nonprofit community here in Summit County does a lot to uplift the entire community. Anybody who lives here, works here, stays here, plays here, all the things, everybody benefits from our nonprofits in some way.”
Hope Alliance was another grant recipient. It provides vision care to those in need and executive director Diane Bernhardt said it plans to purchase additional ophthalmology equipment to provide second-level care for patients.
She said she has countless stories about changing lives, including when a young boy received his first pair of glasses. “He put them on and he was stone like a statue. He couldn't even move because it was the first time he was seeing. And then his mom is crying and we're crying and there's really nothing like watching someone seeing for the first time. It's really amazing.”
And there will be plenty more amazing stories in the coming year as these funds are used to benefit our community.
