The Rotary Club of Los Altos recently awarded its spring Community Grants to nine local nonprofit groups.
Crysta Krames, chairperson of Community Grants for the Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund, announced the recipients of the grants April 28, emphasizing the importance of the Rotary Club’s long-standing motto “Service Above Self.”
Krames posed the question, “Why does philanthropy matter?”
She suggested that it strengthens community, is contagious and benefits mental health because helping others leads to a sense of personal fulfillment.
“Without philanthropy,” she said, “many needs in society would go unmet.”
Eight Rotarians served on the Grants Committee that selected the recipients. In addition to its spring and fall cycles of funding, the Rotary Club awards annual “pillar” grants to organizations supported by the Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund.
Funding for the grants came from the Rotary Club’s annual Fine Art in the Park event, its Rotary Bears project fundraiser and the subsequent sales of the book “Los Altos Rotary Bears Emerge from Hibernation,” written by Roy Lave, president of the Rotary Club of Los Altos.
Grant recipients and their intended uses for the funds:
• Compassion Week, sponsoring a meal-packing event for Rise Against Hunger.
• Community School of Music & Arts, purchasing musical instruments for CSMA’s Music4-Schools program.
• East Palo Alto Kids Foundation, decreasing disparities among local school districts by enabling teachers to apply for mini grants to bolster curriculum.
• MVLA Scholars, enabling low-income students to work fewer hours so that they can focus on their college studies and graduation.
• Pacific Hearing Connection, purchasing Verifit equipment to run real-ear measurements for low-income applicants.
• Arts Los Altos, funding community enrichment through art, including “Inflorescence,” an artist-designed “River of Light” waveform illuminated bench installed downtown.
• KARA, supporting a weeklong camp for 75 youth ages 6-17 who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or other family member.
• Next Door Solutions, expanding advocacy against domestic violence.
• The Los Altos History Museum, helping fund a new exhibition, “Stories from the Land,” using modern technology and interactive displays to educate the community.
The deadline to apply for the club’s fall Community Grants is Oct. 1. For an application and more information, visit portal.clubrunner.ca/4000/sitepage/grants-to-nonprofits.
Marlene Cowan is a member of the Rotary Club of Los Altos. For more information, visit losaltosrotary.org.
