Palo Alto Rotary - Community Grants

Community grants are the largest single component of Palo Alto Rotary’s charitable budget. In recent years the amount has been $30,000 to $50,000, depending on the success of our annual fundraising event. Local non-profit and educational organizations apply from April through January of the following year. In February, these requests are carefully evaluated by a committee of Rotarians, who choose four or five of the most worthy requests. The grants are then awarded to the winning in the mid-March timeframe.

The 2010 recipients are:

Abilities United - $1,000 (plus whatever is raised as the “Fund a Need” item at the annual Rotary fundraising event) to purchase up to eight custom-designed waterproof wheelchairs allowing individuals with physical disabilities to access the pool for therapy and rehabilitation.

Adolescent Counseling Services - $10,000 in support of the On-Campus Counseling Program, which provides free individual and family counseling and crisis intervention for students at all five secondary schools in Palo Alto, plus Menlo-Atherton High School, Redwood High School in Redwood City and La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park.

Big Brothers and Sisters - $5,000 to support the one-on-one mentoring programs at Green Oaks Academy, East Palo Alto Charter School and the 49ers Academy in East Palo Alto, in which adults and high school students work with at-risk elementary and middle school students.

Cleo Eulau Center - $7,500 to support the Collaborative Counseling Program, providing group and individual therapy for at-risk youth at the Court and Community School South in East Palo Alto, consisting of students on probation or expelled from other schools.

Lytton Gardens - $5,100 to purchase an Arjo Walker for the Lytton Gardens Health Care Center. The Arjo Walker is a hydraulic lift reduces risk of injury for both patient and therapist when lifting or lower the patient to and from a standing position.

Second Harvest Food Bank - $5,000 to provide free produce to low-income families in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto once a month through the Ecumenical Hunger Program.