Sebastopol West 100 gives $295,000 to eight local nonprofits

New giving circle hands out their first grants, including a grant to Food for Thought for $100,000.

Executive directors/board members from the winning nonprofits show off their giant checks. (Photo by Kelsey Joy)

When the city of Sebastopol decided that it couldn’t afford to continue its longstanding tradition of giving community grants to local nonprofits, two Craigs—Craig Boblitt and Craig Litwin—decided to do something about it. This spring, they pulled together a board of directors for a new giving circle called the Sebastopol West 100. Their initial modest goal was to raise $200,000 to replace the city budget cuts.

They overshot that goal.

At a gathering yesterday morning at the Balletto Event Center, the Sebastopol West 100 (SW100) handed out giant cardboard checks, totaling $295,000, to eight nonprofits in west county. The winners were as follows:

• $100,000 — Food For Thought

• $50,000 — Sebastopol Area Senior Center

• $50,000 — Sebastopol Community Cultural Center

• $25,000 — Micah’s Hugs

• $25,000 — Gravenstein Health Action Coalition’s Meet Your Neighbor Project

• $15,000 — The School Garden Network Foundation

• $15,000 — 10,000 Degrees

• $15,000 — Slow Food Russian River

They also listed the runners up—West County Health Centers Inc., Social Good Fund, Inc., Northern California Public Media, Maker Education, LandPaths, Apis Arborea, Emergency Prep Help, and Sebastopol Grange—and urged people to remember them in their end-of-year giving.

As we explained in our first article on the Sebastopol West 100 back in March, “Annual membership is $1,300, which can be contributed in one payment or spread out monthly. Members will have a direct say in where funds are awarded. Each member will have a vote in the crucial decision-making process of awarding grants.”

SW100 received 77 applications, and its grant committee winnowed that down to 16. The membership then voted on which of those organizations would be the final winners. According to Craig Boblitt, the grants committee was almost unanimous in their choices, but the voting members split their votes pretty evenly. One contest was decided by a single vote. (Boblitt wouldn’t say which one.)

After giving away almost $300,000, the SW100 has still got a stash of cash and they’re building it up for next year’s awards. They are still accepting members at the $1,300-a-year level and beyond, so join now.

They’re also bringing in some big money. Craig Litwin announced that they’ve started what they’re calling the sponsorship circle. “We have four folks who signed up for $25,000 each for the next five years,” he said.

Sebastopol West 100 board member Becca Lipski said, “I feel like giving circles are the future of philanthropy.”

At the Sebastopol West 100 event. (Photo by Kelsey Joy)

Executive Director Sue Davis (center) accepts a $15,000 check from SW100 board members Linda Civatello (left) and Becca Lipski (right). (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)

Kim Mazzuca (right), president and CEO of 10,000 Degrees, which was awarded $15,000, talked about their work at Laguna High School in Forestville as SW100 board members Linda Civatello (left) and Becca Lipski (center) look on. (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)

The grant writing team from Slow Food Russian River (from left: Carole Flaherty, Paula Shatkin, Suzanne Wright) accepted a $15,000 check from SW100 board members Linda Civatello and Becca Lipski. (Photo by Kelsey Joy)

Gravenstein Health Action Coalition got $25,000 for Meet Your Neighbor, an emergency preparedness program. From left: Meet Your Neighbor coordinator Skip Jirrels, SW100 board member Carlo Rossi, Gravenstein Health Action’s Mary Lou Schmidt, and SW100 board member Lawrence Jaffe. (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)

Micah Sawyer (center) of Micah’s Hugs accepted a $25,000 check from SW100 board members Carlo Rossi (left) and Lawrence Jaffe (right). (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)

SW100 board members Craig Litwin (left) and Susan Olson (right) gave a $50,000 check to Sebastopol Community Cultural Center’s Director Tanya Sierra (center left) and board member Philena Chantha (center right).

SW100 board members Susan Olson (left) and Craig Litwin (right) gave a $50,000 check to Sebastopol Area Senior Center board member Gary Bachelor and Director Katie Davis. (Photo by Kelsey Joy)

Food for Thought won the big prize of $100,000. From left: SW100 board members Linda Civatello, Carlo Rossi, Becca Lipski; Food for Thought’s Grant Manager Tom Lennon and Executive Director Ron Karp; SW100 board members Craig Boblitt, Craig Litwin, Susan Olson, Lawrence Jaffe, Kenyon Webster and Craig Boblitt. (Photo by Kelsey Joy)

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