Page 9 - Bobbye and Tonilee Social Media Issue

The San Diego Women’s Foundation: others. She is excited to tell me all about The San Diego Women’s
Foundation, and I am eager to listen to what type of organization
can make such a dynamic, accomplished woman so enthusiastic.
Making a Difference- The San Diego Women’s Foundation, which was founded eleven
years ago, offers women an opportunity to get involved in our com-
munity, meet other professional San Diego women, and help make
Here and Now! a difference. And the best part is a volunteer can do as little or as
much as she wants; even the website states: “One of the things
we are proudest of at SDWF is our ‘no-guilt’ factor.” For many busy
women who want to get involved in community service but realize
the limitations of their time, this organization provides a way to do
By Kimberly K. Robeson
hands-on work or step in and out as necessary.
So what is SDWF exactly and what is the focus of their community
Sometimes something happens in our life that affects us greatly and
we are inspired to do community service. Maybe your sister gets service? To begin, it’s a group of women with 200+ members who
breast cancer, so you become a breast cancer advocate; maybe each contribute $2,000 a year with a 5 year minimum commitment
your son goes to Afghanistan, so you are inspired to help service and get one vote where grant money will be awarded. Each grant,
members; or maybe you simply hear about a remarkable organiza- usually $25,000 or greater, targets one of the following areas: Arts
& Culture, Education, Environment, and Health & Human Services.
tion from a friend and are prompted to give a helping hand. One
thing is undeniable, when you assist in helping others, you too are In fact, “As of June 2011, more than $2.2 million had been awarded
rewarded. I know this from first-hand to 58 Community Partners for their
experience. efforts to initiate or improve existing
On August 15th, 2007 an 8.0 earth- programs.”
Every year one of the aforementioned
quake shook Peru for 2 minutes and
40 seconds and killed more than 500 areas is the focus; for example, Arts
people. I happened to be teaching & Culture was the focus this year, and
in Lima at the time and a few weeks after an in-depth process of reviewing
later, with a bus load of student vol- proposals, on-site visits by a team of
about four women, ten organizations
unteers, several teachers, and lots of
supplies, we went to Chincha (a com- were put on the ballot. From these
munity about two hours from Lima), to ten, five were chosen. The organiza-
help build a Community Center for one tions that were chosen are given a
of the devastated communities. When one-time generous grant but also be-
come lifetime “Community Partners.”
we returned to the city, a sobered
reality hung in the air for how fortu- In other words, once chosen, a group
nate we were. But a strange sense of continues to be part of the SDWF
excitement also filled the school bus. family; they are included in a monthly San Diego Woman
I believe the excitement we experi- newsletter and during the annual
grant give-away, the organizations
enced cannot be duplicated by having
a great party, seeing a good film, or that had received grants the previous
a perfect date. This euphoric feeling year report back how the money was
comes from giving—giving time, en- used and how these funds helped 9
ergy, and resources to the less fortu- shape their organization.
This year, for example, $45,000 was
nate. Admittedly, most of us don’t have
the time or resources to go all the way awarded to The San Diego Center
to Peru or Africa or Asia and sending for Children, a therapeutic music
a check (though extremely helpful to program that helps “heal emotional
most organizations) oftentimes leaves wounds by providing an outlet for
children to learn to cope with past
something to be desired. The truth is, there are ample opportunities
to help on one’s home front, and one organization in particular, The trauma by expressing themselves through music and movement.”
San Diego Women’s Foundation—a non-profit organization that Other grants included $32,000 to Eveoke Dance Theatre that con-
“educates and inspires women to engage in significant and sustain- nects ten to eighteen years olds with social activism through dance.
able philanthropy to strengthen the San Diego region”—is one that Another $29,650 was awarded to The Playwrights Project where
underserved students from Lakeside and San Isidro were given
offers so much to so many.
To learn more about this organization, I had the opportunity to sit opportunities to write plays and perform for the community. And
down for a long and animated conversation with Eileen Haag, the these are just a few of the Community Partners of 2011. This year
current President of SDWF, a position for which she volunteers. alone, $181,650 was awarded to organizations that truly influence
Eileen’s bio is quite impressive. She is the mother of two children, the lives of San Diego young people. (To see all the Community
Partners and grant awards since 2001, please visit http://www.
who are now thriving adults (her son a social worker, her daughter
a teacher) and has been happily married for twelve years. For the sdwomensfoundation.org).
last forty years, Eileen has been actively involved in the San Diego As explained on the SDWF website, grant making involves a thor-
community; she was a co-owner of The Bernardo News from 1971 ough process conducted by three teams: a Discovery, Implementa-
to 1989; the chair of the Rancho Bernardo United Coalition that tion, and Impact team. The Discovery Team “conducts community
research to gain a broad understanding of the year's topic, priori-
helped rebuild more than 300 homes after the 2007 With Creek
Fires; the chair of the board of directors at Casa de las Campanas, tizes the issues, and recommends a funding priority within the focus
a continuing care retirement community; President of the Rancho area.” The Implementation team oversees application solicitation,
Bernardo Community Foundation; and a consultant for several im- proposal review, site visits, and balloting process.” And the Impact
portant SD projects. And yet, in our two hours together, she is less Team “serves as the liaison to all Community Partners (grantees)
to evaluate and track the effectiveness and success of our grants”
interested in talking about these many accomplishments because—
like a true philanthropist—our meeting is not about her—it’s about (www. sdwomensfoundation.org).