As you can see, while the category Children & Youth has been one of our top grant areas, Education & Economic Development has not.  I look forward to seeing the direction our new Grant Chairs, Mara Buchholz and Nikki Carmody Ream, along with the respective grant focus groups, take us!

I would like to welcome as new members to the Advisory Committee: Sara Bennett replacing Sophia Alsadek in the publicity role; Carlie Berke replacing Kate Williams in the financial advisory role, and as previously mentioned Mara and Nikki, taking the place of Mary Consalvi and Cynthia Hudson as Grant Chairs.  On behalf of the entire membership, I would also like to thank the outgoing ladies for doing a fantastic job, as well as for their time and dedication to the organization.  Mary and Cynthia will remain on the Advisory Committee as Past Grant Chairs to provide continued guidance and will present grantee reporting and evaluations on previous grantees at future member meetings.

At this point, with much still unknown about what social distancing guidelines will be in the fall, we are tentatively planning our 2020 Grant Celebration in conjunction with our first general meeting of the cycle for the week of September 15. Our first speaker meeting will be the week of November 17 and we are looking to schedule an inspiring speaker that you will not want to miss! We will also hold an all member volunteer event in November or December with an activity to engage members socially with each other while creating a project for a local nonprofit.  Finally, we are always in need of volunteers for one of our most important roles, that of the Grants Committee. If you are interested, the kickoff meeting is Sept 21 and 22 at 12:30pm at Village Church (more information to follow).

This year we are going to focus on our membership, both in obtaining new members to further leverage the power of our collective giving and also finding ways to engage and retain current members more fully. We welcome your ideas and help with this important task. Some of the initial steps we have in mind towards these goals are to bring back (by popular demand) the Fireside Chat event and add a New/Recent Member Orientation in the fall. In addition, as a result of the member survey we will be forming a task force on inviting women from other zip codes to join or alternative options to increase the power of our contributions. Recommendations from the task force will be presented to membership and subject to a membership vote.

I would be remiss if I did not highlight one of the ten amazing charitable projects from the Military Focus Group we provided funding to in June. Feeding San Diego (Feeding Heroes Initiative) received a grant of $50,000.San Diego County is home to more than 1.2 million veterans, active duty military men and women, and their families – 37% of the total population. Almost all of this group are challenged with San Diego’s high cost of living, which results in high levels of food insecurity. The Feeding Heroes Initiativeis a multi-faceted program that meets military families in convenient locations to provide free, nutritious food. The program is estimated to serve approximately 39,000 individuals with 6,200 being funded through our grant. By connecting the families with resources already affiliated with the military and through a dignified farmer’s market style distribution, families can access fresh, nutritious food in a comfortable, high-dignity experience without stigma or bureaucracy for those in need.  This goes a long way in helping alleviate the burden and stress of making ends meet.

Finally, many thanks again to each one of you for supporting the vision of our founder, Gayle Gillies-Mize.  Your willingness and commitment to work together to make a difference in the San Diego community and impact lives through informed, focused, collective giving is what the RSF Women’s Fund is all about. We will be installing a commemorative bench and plaque in the Village in Gayle’s honor, funded by private contributions. If you would like to contribute to the Gayle Gillies Memorial Endowment Fund, please let me know. We are making plans to hold a small ribbon cutting event and will provide further information to you when we have a date.  Thank you again for all you do to support the Women's Fund and our community.

Sincerely-

Candise Holmlund

Advisory Chair