RAP is celebrating its 30th Anniversary, and the Board of Directors is proud of our history and our record of accepting the mandate from the County of Riverside to provide services in eastern Riverside County that deserve a regional focus. Our charge has been to distribute financial and educational resources to support organizations working to fill the “gaps” in Health, Mental Health, and Juvenile Intervention services to residents from the Coachella Valley to the Palo Verde Valley.
I hope you will notice the billboard acknowledging the 30th Anniversary located on I-10 at the Bob Hope exit acknowledging RAP’s role in “Empowering Our Communities to Thrive.”
In line with the attention is the recent coverage of RAP’s NPO Centric program by the Desert Sun in the September 4th and September 23rd editions of the newspaper.
We, of course, will continue efforts to achieve our Vision for our community, “enhancing the quality of life for all residents of eastern Riverside County by investing in nonprofits and empowering them to effectively serve unmet needs.”
2022 Nonprofit Desert Fast Pitch Participants Advance
Without further ado, we announce this year’s organizations selected to advance to the Finals at the 2022 Nonprofit Desert Fast Pitch taking place on October 6, 2022:
- Palm Springs International Piano Competition
- Elder Love, USA
- Food Now
- ACT For MS
- Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert
- NAMI Coachella Valley
In addition to receiving $1,000 to participate in the workshops leading up to the Semi-Final, the contestants will each receive an additional $1,000 for their participation. Each nonprofit has the opportunity to win $20,000 for Top Prize, $15,000 for Most Innovative, and $10,000 for Audience Choice.
Read on later in this Newsletter to learn more about this year’s exciting event.
Recent Grants
Here’s some RAP news of grants awarded to organizations since our last Newsletter:
Small Grants:
- Variety Children’s Charities of the Desert $5,000
- ACT for MS $5,000
- Grassroots Junior Tennis Inc. $5,000
- Hidden Harvest $5,000
- Alzheimer’s Coachella Valley$7,000
- Olive Crest $6,675
- Angel View $10,000
- Coachella Valley Youth Golf Foundation $10,000
- Make a Wish Foundation of Orange County and Inland Empire, Inc. $10,000
- Jewish Family Service of the Desert $10,000
Performance Grants
- Colorado River Senior Center $40,000
- Community Action Partnership $20,000
Sponsorship Grants
- Palo Verde College Foundation $2,500
- Create Center for the Arts $2,500
Lastly – Changing Roles
As many of you may already know, Stephanie Minor, until recently our NPO Centric Director, decided to transition to the new role of NPO Centric Marketing and Social Media Consultant. In the three years with NPO Centric, Stephanie focused a great deal of resources on increasing our marketing and media resources. Under Stephanie’s leadership, the business model was strengthened, and membership increased. We look forward to continuing these positive trends, which will be possible as a result of this re-assignment. The addition of Hugo Loyola as our new NPO Centric Director will increase our capacity to better serve our clients.
Be safe, take care; wishing you all an Awesome Autumn.
Lety De Lara, CEO |