Stories and Events
Engaging San Benito County through Philanthropy
January 25, 2023
|
Stories
Holte Holiday Dinners - Feeding those in Need
Giving back and serving those in need has been the focus driving the annual Holte Holiday Dinners. Since the mid-1980s, Holte Holiday Dinners has been feeding hundreds of individuals and families in Hollister for both Thanksgiving and Christmas with the help of kindhearted, passionate volunteers and donors. The Community Foundation for San Benito County provided funding for this annual event in partnership with Chang So of Hollister Super, who facilitated acquisition of turkeys and helped to offer meals to over 360 people in our community. “We really appreciate the Community Foundation. Without the help, we might not have had any turkeys!” Eduardo Servin, Chairman of the Holte Holiday Dinner.
December 23, 2022
|
Events
Foundation holds ribbon-cutting to celebrate its new home
The Community Foundation for San Benito County held a ribbon-cutting event to commemorate the end of a successful year in its brand-new building. The Epicenter was made possible through the vision and generosity of Randy and Rebecca Wolf. The ribbon-cutting was the Foundation’s means of honoring the Wolfs for having donated the beautiful building and investing in the Foundation’s future. The ceremony was held on December 8 at the Community Foundation Epicenter in conjunction with the Community Foundation’s annual Christmas Party. The event itself was intimate. Because of the peak in recent illnesses, the occasion was kept private with only board members, staff, and a few special guests present. The ribbon-cutting also served as a chance to thank a few past board members that the Foundation was previously unable to formally recognize publicly due to the pandemic. The Foundation gratefully acknowledged the work of its past members Kay Filice and Bob Tiffany who were able to attend. Construction of the Epicenter took about two years, beginning in September 2020 and concluding in late February 2022, and the opening was in March 2022. The building was created in order to establish a permanent home for the Community Foundation. Before the Epicenter, the Foundation had moved three different times. Now, the Foundation has an official, everlasting space and can continue to grow, as well as provide a home for other nonprofits.
December 1, 2022
|
Stories
30 Years of Philanthropy
The Community Foundation celebrates 30 Years of Philanthropy!
October 14, 2022
|
Events
Women's Fund Financial Workshop Series
According to a 2019 survey by Laurel Road, a national online lending company, the lack of basic financial skills is felt more acutely by women. Only 66% of women reported having an emergency fund versus 82% of men, and women were also twice as likely as men to not have any money saved for retirement. To help provide women with the necessary tools to be in control of their financial well-being, the Women’s Fund of the Community Foundation for San Benito County assembled a Financial Health and Well-Being workshop series. This was the second series that the Women’s Fund had done; the first was a successful online event in 2020. This year, a 3-day workshop was completed in person at the Community Foundation Epicenter. All guests were gifted a binder full of informational worksheets, templates, and other resources to follow along with the series and take home. Each day consisted of a different guest speaker passionate about helping women succeed in their financial journey, and covered a new financial topic. Guest speakers and their topics include: • Shannon Wilkinson, CPA, on how to budget, important documents to keep, debt management, and more. • Alexis Winder, Financial Advisor/ Edward Jones. On investing, retirement accounts, and life insurance basics. • Marla Pleyte, Estate Planning Attorney, on estate planning, family trusts, and asset protection for you and your family. Twenty-five women attended the morning or evening sessions of the workshop with a majority reporting the time spent was valuable, and all of whom said they felt the speakers were knowledgeable. The workshop series was highly recommended by all of our participants, many of whom stated it was a “good foundation” and “important information for better planning”. One remark was that it was “very helpful – [the workshop] encouraged us to think about what we have in place.” An additional budgeting-specific workshop taught in Spanish by Laura Garcilazo, CPA, was held at Youth Alliance for 19 people. “Excellent. Very professional, to the point,” “Such good information,” and “I loved the session and would have liked a longer session” are only a few of the many positive comments made about the Spanish workshop. The Women’s Fund made it a goal to provide a safe and supportive place to learn and ask questions to professionals in the financial field and help women forge a solid financial future with the new skills learned to put into practice. Financial health is essential and the information shared should be circulated more widely among women. For this purpose, each of the workshop sessions in English was recorded for anyone interested in still learning the information but didn’t get a chance to attend in person. For more information on the Women’s Fund, email Brenda at [email protected].