Operating as a debt-free nonprofit, independent of tax payer money, provides for incredible stories from which our funding is sourced. I can only thank generous givers like yourself for making our mission possible. I never want to take for granted the huge hearts behind these generous gifts.

One such giving story took place this week as our campus in Corona was granted $25,000 to feed and serve unsheltered men, women, and children in our transitional program in the Inland Empire.

The Community Foundation, serving the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino provided this gift under the The S.L. Gimbel Foundation Advised Fund. It is always intriguing what motivates the generosity behind these influential gifts.

The S. L. Gimbel Foundation is named for Susan Gimbel from Orange, California who sadly lost her battle with ovarian cancer in May 2006.  Susan was passionate about a variety of causes including the arts, education, cancer research and human dignity issues. Her foundation now supports nonprofits working in these areas, and other charitable purposes. The S.L. Gimbel Foundation has granted funds to a wide range of agencies, most recently to food banks in our two-county region (and throughout the United States).  This support helped fund the increased need during the holidays that many food banks experience.

In a 1991 article, Susan Gimbel was quoted as saying, “No matter how strongly the body protests, the spirit can prevail.”  Today, Susan’s spirit prevails through the S.L. Gimbel Foundation.  Her legacy will carry on as much-needed dollars continue to be infused into the communities she loved and supported.

The funds granted to our program in Corona will be a significant help in providing an additional 25,000 meals for both the residents that live on our campus and those that we serve on the streets. This gift will also provide for case management and supportive services for 35 households in addition to 48 families provided with transitional housing.

We are always looking for ways to improve our programs and grow to serve more of the least, the last and the lost as far as our resources will stretch. Thank you so much to The Community Foundation and The S.L. Gimbel Foundation Advised Fund, we hope to partner again in the future to see more of our neighbors transition off the streets and into healthy homes.