Grants For Teen Programs And More

Sonora, CA — The Sonora Area Foundation awarded grants to support several local area non-profit organizations.

The YES Partnership, which has operated under the fiscal management of the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency (A-TCAA) recieved a $70,000 grant. The YES Partnership helps youth and families prevent substance abuse, child abuse and youth suicide. Executive Director Ed Wyllie says, “The grant will help this long standing organization through a transition period in federal funding while seeking to build youth services in Southern Tuolumne County.”

The grant was made by the Foundation through the Lucille Arnold Fund, a component fund held by the Foundation with a purpose to provide success for at risk youth. The grant will be matched by YES fund raising efforts and in-kind support from its community partners.

Several other grants were awarded through the Foundation’s competitive grant program funded by its supporting organization, the Irving J. Symons Foundation for Tuolumne County. Those grants included the following:

Sober living and recovery – A grant of $15,000 was awarded to We Care Sober Living and Recovery Homes in support of its Sonora area facility. The critical work performed by We Care provides transitional and/or permanent housing for people in recovery, people with mental illnesses, and those that are homeless for various other reasons.

Band uniforms – The Sonora Union High School Golden Regiment Band Boosters has been fund raising for the past year to purchase new uniforms for the band. The $9,200 grant award from the Foundation will complete the fund raising goal of the boosters and allow for 120 new uniforms to be purchased.

Potato harvest – The Foothill Collaborative for Sustainability (FoCuS) educates community residents and demonstrates ways to achieve greater self-reliance in our foothill region. This year, almost one mile of potatoes have been planted on space donated by Indigeny Reserve. A Foundation grant of $5,168 will help to buy a potato harvester and other equipment.

Film Fest marketing – A grant of $2,000 was awarded to Film Fest Twain Harte to assist in sponsorship and marketing for the 2014 event. Supporters hope to take the event to a higher level through a broad marketing effort at a nationwide level.

Mural in a Day – The community project to create a Sonora Farmers Market mural is due to be completed in late-September. This grant of $1,800 from the Foundation helps to support the Mural Education Component of the project, which will allow volunteers to receive instruction in preparation for their role in painting the mural.

The Sonora Area Foundation was established in 1990 and has given out $17 million. Wyllie says The Irving J. Symons Foundation for Tuolumne County and the Symons Family Fund, now has assets of more than $26 million and administers more than 170 charitable funds set up for scholarships and other charitable causes.