Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

Community Foundation Santa Cruz County Helping people do good in Santa Cruz County and beyond! www.cfscc.org. Subscribe to our enews: https://buff.ly/2CKYNqV

We're one of over 750 community foundations in the U.S. Learn more about about us and the world of community foundations by visiting www.cfscc.org.

Here are some photos from “Moving On Up”, our inaugural scholarships celebration that brought together scholarship award...
06/01/2026

Here are some photos from “Moving On Up”, our inaugural scholarships celebration that brought together scholarship awardees past and present, their families, and community members who give generously to support dreams of higher education.

It was a great evening of community connection, and we can't wait to celebrate again next year.

Congrats to all the awardees and to all the local grads moving on to greater things!

📸 ( All photos by Rose Calucchia)

1) Simunovich Family Agriculture Scholarship recipient Crystal Martinez, Bert and Carolyn Post Scholarship recipient Valeria Marquez, and Richard and Theresa Crocker Scholarship recipient Joahann Solorio López celebrating with the Scholar Dollars dispenser.

2) Isabel Fowler Sewell Scholarship recipients Jocelyn Aguilera, Israel Camacho-Santos, Zuleyma Meza Castañeda, Erik Michi-Rojas, Lourdes Lopez-Diaz and Angel Jimenez-Rincon with Penny Rich, daughter of Isabel F. Sewell and scholarship founder, and Cynthia Lopez, 2022 Awardee.

3) 2025-26 Richard and Theresa Crocker Scholarship recipient Jaime Lopez and son Andrew. Jaime presented the new class of awardees.

4) Carolyn and Bert Post (center) met this year’s Post scholars Isabella Tiscareno (on left) and Valeria Marquez.

5) Laura Segura Scholarship recipients Briana Fernandez and Gloria Armenta with awards presenter Donnie Veal (center), founder of the Rising Scholars program at Cabrillo College.

6) Live Like Leo Foundation and scholarship founder Dinasha Cellura (center) awarded the inaugural recipients Karen Sanchez and Liana Alexander.

7) Hank Garcia Jr. Scholarship recipients Ricardo Martinez, Alysa Oliver, and Camila Suarez with 2025 awardee and presenter Mayda Juarez-Ortiz.

8) Roberto Arzate and his family brought the delicious flavors of Tacos 3 Estrellas to the event.

9) Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Faris Sabbah and Community Foundation CEO Susan True. Dr. Sabbah presented the Santa Cruz County Endowment Scholarship, a permanent resource for students held at the Foundation.

10) Congrats to all the students and families from the Community Foundation staff!!

05/30/2026

Congratulations to all our local students celebrating their graduations this weekend!

We’re still beaming from “Moving on Up”, our inaugural scholarship awards ceremony that brought together scholarship awardees past and present, their families, and community members who give generously to support dreams of higher education.

Each student that walked across the stage saw a whole community of people in attendance, rooting for them, encouraging their success, and reminding them that they have what it takes to succeed.

Video cred: FMZ Media Group

Early morning practices. Late-night studying. The push to go a little further each day. For high school athletes, the ch...
05/27/2026

Early morning practices. Late-night studying. The push to go a little further each day. For high school athletes, the chance to play the sport they love makes the sacrifices worthwhile. Their dedication inspires a community effort to ensure they have what they need—uniforms, safe facilities, and a ride to an away game.

That’s why the endowed Hunter Bohan McPherson Athletic Fund at the Community Foundation exists.

A permanent resource supporting athletic programs for students in grades 7–12 in the Santa Cruz City School District, the fund was established in memory of Hunter Bohan McPherson, a Santa Cruz High School graduate and son of Mary and Bruce McPherson.

Today, the fund continues to support Santa Cruz, Harbor, and Soquel High Schools. In 2026, it awarded $30,000 to cover transportation costs for various teams.

Congratulations to the Santa Cruz High School Boys Volleyball team on their first-ever CIF NorCal Championship! Their historic run continues as they hit the road to battle for the state championship in Fresno—good luck!

📸: Santa Cruz High’s Felippe Zacarias Melo flies in front of the home crowd during the CIF Division III NorCal Regional championship. Credit: Shmuel Thaler Photographer – Santa Cruz Sentinel

COMMUNITY UPDATE! Powered by enduring generosity, we’re proud to announce $2.1 million in Community Grants to 103 nonpro...
05/21/2026

COMMUNITY UPDATE! Powered by enduring generosity, we’re proud to announce $2.1 million in Community Grants to 103 nonprofit partners—fueling the work that keeps Santa Cruz County strong and connected.

As policy shifts bring new uncertainty and rising demand, flexible funding helps local organizations stay steady, responsive, and rooted in meeting our community’s needs.

📸:
Amesti Elementary students planted shade trees with Community Grantee Watsonville Wetlands Watch as part of their schoolyard greening project. A 1st grader told the school’s garden teacher, “Éste arból es mi amigo,” (This tree is my friend) and a 2nd grade student said, “Trees make the Earth happy.”

Learn more about our Community Grants program
https://www.cfscc.org/blog/community-grants-2026

Last weekend, Community Foundation Director of Engagement and Impact Kevin Heuer joined the Tobera Project in their firs...
05/18/2026

Last weekend, Community Foundation Director of Engagement and Impact Kevin Heuer joined the Tobera Project in their first-ever Asian American Pacific Islander and Native Hawai’ian Heritage Month celebration at Vista Brewing in Watsonville. The purpose of the event was to acknowledge and celebrate the long-standing Asian American cultural heritage in the Pajaro Valley.

The Tobera Project was founded in 2020 by Roy Recio to commemorate the legacy of Fermin Tobera, a Filipino farmer murdered during the Watsonville Anti-Filipino Riot of 1930. His death was a catalyst for the Filipino-American farmworker labor movement that served as a blueprint for subsequent movements, such as the United Farm Workers.

The Project has also teamed up with UC Santa Cruz’s Community Archives program to create WWatsonville is in the Heart, a project with a digital archive at the SSanta Cruz Museum of Art & Historycompiling photos, first-hand family historical accounts, poetry, articles, and artifacts of local Filipino history.

The Foundation is excited to support the Tobera Project’s work as part of our Community Grantee program.

📸
From left:, Victor Kimura of Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL, Tobera Project founder Roy Recio, and Kevin Heuer.

The historic Abbot Lighthouse in Santa Cruz will shine bright once again thanks to the generosity of local donors that c...
05/14/2026

The historic Abbot Lighthouse in Santa Cruz will shine bright once again thanks to the generosity of local donors that came together to support the replacement and maintenance of a new sweeping LED light fixture.

Bill Simpkins has been a longtime champion of the lighthouse, and when its light went dark earlier this year, he wanted to create a permanent solution to fix it. The Abbott Lighthouse Fund at the Community Foundation was established to always have a resource to keep the light on.

Recently, the new fixture was delivered and installed and will now continue to serve as a beacon for our community. The old fixture will be preserved at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History and will be part of a future exhibit.

From left: City Public Works crew get ready to swap out the Abbot Lighthouse fixture.

City Public Works Supervisor Dan Himan and Bill Simpkins with the new fixture freshly delivered from Finland.

Community Foundation Donor Services Director Hilary Bryant on hand to see the action up close.

Santa Cruz MAH Deputy Director Marla Novo and Exhibitions Manager Shanti Nagwani with the old fixture ready for the museum.

The City of Watsonville has a new way to help residents through droughts and emergencies—a 35 foot tall, 2.38-million-ga...
05/05/2026

The City of Watsonville has a new way to help residents through droughts and emergencies—a 35 foot tall, 2.38-million-gallon concrete water tank.

Behind the scenes on this new water tank and other projects around the county is the team from Regional Water Management Foundation (RWMF), which we established in 2007 to support local agencies with planning and securing funding for regional water projects in Santa Cruz County.

Learn more about RWMF and their efforts around water supply, water quality, watershed stewardship, wastewater projects, and stormwater management.

https://www.cfscc.org/blog/a-central-hub-helping-solve-our-water-issues

📷 : (From right) Regional Water Management Foundation Director Tim Carson at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new water tank in Watsonville, joined by Watsonville Water Division Manager Beau Kayser and County of Santa Cruz Water Resources Program Manager and RWMF Board member Sierra Ryan.

Last week, BizzNEST, the Digital NEST youth-powered creative agency, partnered with Nonprofit Connection Santa Cruz Coun...
04/28/2026

Last week, BizzNEST, the Digital NEST youth-powered creative agency, partnered with Nonprofit Connection Santa Cruz County and us to host AI Jam: Practical Tools for Nonprofit Communications & Marketing.

The workshop provided a space for discussion of ethics and best practices for AI in the nonprofit sector, as well as hands-on practice with AI tools to support strategy, storytelling, and content creation.

From ideation to delivery, we appreciated the BizzNEST team's professionalism, communication, skill, expertise, and follow-through.

One participant said, “I really appreciated the interactive and engaging aspects of the workshop as well as the lively energy of the presenters. It was also really great that a team of people was there to walk around and assist the attendees during the activities.”

Photo credit: BizzNEST

Santa Cruz County is continuing to invest national opioid settlement funds in community-based solutions that support hea...
04/03/2026

Santa Cruz County is continuing to invest national opioid settlement funds in community-based solutions that support healing, recovery, and long-term stability. Since September 2024, a total of $1.6 million has been awarded through a collaborative funding pathway we administer with our partners at County of Santa Cruz's Health Services Agency and its Behavioral Health Division.

Through a second round of grants totaling $810,000, local nonprofit organizations are expanding prevention, treatment, harm reduction, housing support, employment pathways, and family-centered care for those most affected by opioid-related harm.

Learn about the grantees: https://www.cfscc.org/blog/what-healing-looks-like

📸:

1) Proud graduates of Homeless Garden Project's new Developing Purpose & Community pilot program, offering 4 weeks of on the farm job training, paired with employment readiness training and coaching, and peer support.

2) Local practitioners in public health, addiction & recovery, and community services at a grantee learning exchange at the Community Foundation in September 2025.

This year marks twenty years of the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship. We are honored to announce the four new visual artist...
04/01/2026

This year marks twenty years of the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship. We are honored to announce the four new visual artists that have been selected to carry on the legacy of the Rydells and continue to build an artistic community in Santa Cruz County.

Big congrats to the 2026-27 Rydell fellows!

And they are...

Rob Corradetti (Killer Acid)
Susan Else
Hannah Jayanti
Karolina Karlic

Learn more about the artist in our blog https://www.cfscc.org/blog/announcing-the-2026-2027-rydell-fellows

All photos by Daris Jasper

📸:

1) From left: Rob Corradetti and daughter, Hannah Jayanti, Susan Else, and Karolina Karlic.
2) Rob Corradetti
3) Susan Else
4) Hannah Jayanti
5) Karolina Karlic

Address

7807 Soquel Drive
Aptos, CA
95003

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+18316622000

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Community Foundation Santa Cruz County posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category