Impact100 distributes $335k

Members of Impact100 Sonoma gathered at Vintage House April 30 to celebrate the awarding of grants to 14 local nonprofits. Thirteen full Impetus Grants and one partial grant were awarded. For the first time since 2019, the annual ceremony for the 300-member women’s collective giving organization was conducted in person.

The $335,500 in total funds allotted set a new annual giving record, group officials said in an announcement.

“We experienced an extraordinary level of interest this year, so we are thrilled to be able to award so many grants,” said Grants Oversight Chair Dana Simpson-Stokes. “We should all be proud to see the impact of our funding ripple through the community.”

Applicants submitted their grant proposals in January. Over the winter, Impact100 Grant Review Committees studied proposals, made site visits and selected the finalists. Finalist organizations presented their proposals to the full Impact100 membership at an in-person event on April 9, and online voting for grant recipients closed on April 22.

2022 Impetus Grant recipients include:

• 10,000 Degrees: $25,000 to fund a graduate-fellow advisor for low-income high-school students seeking college admission and financial aid

• Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma Valley: $24,990 to establish on-site individual and group mental health services for youth facing unprecedented challenges and trauma

• Career Technical Education Foundation: $23,000 to fund the integrated Ag-Engineering for Environmental Sustainability course at Sonoma Valley High School

• Ceres Community Project: $25,000 to support delivery of healthy, medically tailored meals and nutrition advice to Sonoma Valley clients with chronic illness

• Kid Scoop News: $25,000 to continue support for a bilingual Parent Engagement Coordinator for facilitating family literacy and home reading activities

• La Luz Center: $25,000 to develop “Adventura Artistica” creative arts and nature programming for Latinx youth

• On The Move: $25,000 to bring LGBTQ supportive programming to middle-school youth

• Redwood Empire Food Bank: $25,000 to continue essential food distribution at 13 Sonoma Valley sites

• Social Advocates for Youth (SAY): $25,000 to provide on-site grief services at Sonoma Valley schools

• Sonoma Overnight Support (SOS): $25,000 to continue providing meals and human connection to the valley’s growing number of hungry and homeless

• Sonoma Valley Education Foundation: $25,000 to subsidize preschool for low-income students, including those with learning disabilities

• Valley Vibes Orchestra (ViVO): $25,000 to bring a new intensive strings program to Dunbar Elementary School

• Vintage House: $25,000 to support the MyRide program, providing free, door-to-door transportation for seniors unable to drive

Unrestricted Partial Grant recipient

• Ruthless Kindness: $12,510 to bring mobile veterinary services to Sonoma Valley for pets of domestic abuse victims. (This proposal received the next highest amount of votes once all grant funds were allotted.)

For more information, visit impact100sonoma.org.