Kitchell awards $275,000 in grants to nonprofits in Arizona, California and Texas

Members of our Sacramento team awarded grants at an office reception.

In an effort to connect with the communities where we live and work at a very grassroots level, the Kitchell Foundation recently awarded $275,000 in grants to 75 nonprofits in communities where our employee-owners live and work.

After reviewing more than 100 applications from nonprofit organizations in all our markets, regional committees comprised of employee-owners from our operating companies made recommendations for grant awards ranging from $300 to $7,500. The applying organizations are located in communities where Kitchell employees work and live in Arizona, California and Texas, and meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • Strengthen the social, economic & educational infrastructure of our communities
  • Serve the needs of unique and diverse populations, including women, minorities and disadvantaged groups
  • Focus on youth/education, diversity, environmental/animal welfare

The intent was to award grants where we knew the money could be put to the best use based on the mission of the organization and the metrics that were outlined to measure the impact of our gift.

“This process opened our eyes and hearts to the need in our local communities and although the process required difficult decisions and deep analysis of the best use of our Foundation dollars, it is gratifying to know that we have expanded our reach and continue to make a difference in our local communities,” said Kitchell President & CEO Wendy Cohen.

The Kitchell Foundation is administered by the Arizona Community Foundation and funded by contributions from Kitchell and its employee-owners. Visit this link to learn more about the Kitchell Foundation.

Kitchell Employee-Owner ambassadors presenting grants to some of the recipients

The following organizations received grants:

19North AZ
4×5 Program AZ
Assistance League of Phoenix AZ
Atelotorque AZ
AZ Association for Foster & Adoptive Parents AZ
AZ Reach AZ
Coach Mike Football Foundation AZ
Desert Thunder Elementary School PTO AZ
Florence Crittenton AZ
Friends of Ohana AZ
Ground Work AZ
Harvest Compassion AZ
HonorHealth Foundation – Desert Mission AZ
Live Love Community AZ
Lung Transplant Support Organization AZ
Maggie’s Place AZ
Mission 228 AZ
The Be Kind People Project AZ
The Singletons AZ
U.S. VETS – Phoenix AZ
UnitePHX AZ
Veterans Breakthrough AZ
Tucson Mountaineers 4H Club AZ (Tucson)
Berkeley Humane Bay Area
Chavez Family Vision Bay Area
Dorothy’s Place Bay Area
Girl Stem Stars Bay Area
Golden Gate Audubon Bay Area
Lindsay Wildlife Experience Bay Area
Moms Against Poverty Bay Area
Oakland Zoo Bay Area
Ruby’s Place Bay Area
Spark SF Public Schools Bay Area
Together in Pajaro Bay Area
Breaking the Chains Central Valley
El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) Central Valley
Fresno Mission Central Valley
Hope Sanger Central Valley
Lumina Alliance SLO Central Valley
Madera Rescue Central Valley
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – Sacramento Sacramento
Compassion Planet Sacramento
FosterHope Sacramento Sacramento
Greater Sacramento Urban League Sacramento
Hearts for Paws Rescue Sacramento
Her Health First Sacramento
La Familia Counseling Sacramento
My Sister’s House Sacramento
River City Food Bank Sacramento
Roberts Family Development Center Sacramento
Sacramento Youth Center Sacramento
Sacramento Zoological Society Sacramento
Sierra Service Project Sacramento
Stanford Settlement Neighborhood Center Sacramento
Ybuild Sacramento
American Heart Association SoCal
Camarena Foundation SoCal
Jacobs & Cushman SD Food Bank SoCal
Ronald McDonald House Charities SoCal
San Diego Blood Bank SoCal
San Diego Habitat for Humanity SoCal
Shoreline Community Services SoCal
St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center SoCal
Support the Enlisted Project SoCal
Camp Quality Texas TX
Family Promise TX
Hutto Education Foundation TX
Leander Education Excellence Foundation TX
Liberty Hill ISD Education Foundation TX
Lifeworks Austin TX
Pflugerville Education Foundation TX
Ronald McDonald House Charities TX
RRISD Partners in Education Foundation TX
We’ll Get This TX

Founder’s Day 2020: connecting to our communities in new ways

In the spirit of all things in 2020 – the way we marked this year’s Founder’s Day was very different! Our events engaged more volunteers and brought out our Kitchell creativity in unexpected ways.

Events included remote activities at home with family and friends and traditional activities we’ve done in years past but with safety protocols to ensure safe social distancing. We packed emergency food boxes, cleaned up parks, donated blood and had several other events to engage with our communities. Among the highlights:

  • Improvements at Hartsong Ranch animal sanctuary in Greenwood, CA – among the many projects accomplished by our team of 15 volunteers were moving hundreds of rocks in a pasture that had been churned up by livestock, installing a drain/gutter system and overseeing an “extreme bathroom makeover” by transforming a port-a-potty into an old, authentic outhouse!
  • Blanket drive for Banner Desert NICU – one of our project engineers spearheaded this drive to collect blankets for babies in the NICU where their son spent time after he was born. More than 25 blankets were donated!
  • Circle the City Kindness Kits – Kitchell and American Refrigeration Supplies (ARS) volunteers created survival kits for people who are experiencing homelessness. All together we assembled about 450 kits with inspirational messages.
  • Speaking of ARS, they made an extra effort to secure participation in every one of their regions and achieved 100%! In addition to the Circle the City Kindness Kits, they provided 353 survival kits to the Salvation Army and have a scheduled event at Feed My Starving Children in October that will include family members.
  • Toy assembly for Valley of the Sun United Way – 250 children at United Way partner agencies will have fun toys to entertain themselves after Kitchell volunteers (and family members) worked hard to build and decorate mini soccer games and vanity kits.
  • Food banks – we helped pack and distribute emergency food supplies at St. Mary’s Food Bank, United Food Bank, Sacramento Food Bank, Feeding America, Central California Food Bank and Stockton Food Bank.
  • We also cleaned parks, did landscaping projects, worked at shelters and clothes

A big, big thanks to all of you who participated. Although many activities are still underway (some remote through October) our summary includes 440-plus Kitchell volunteers (not including family members), nearly 1,400 hours contributed and donations of $34,500 to nonprofits in our communities.

Here is a full list of the organizations benefiting from our participation:

  • Habitat for Humanity San Jose
  • St. Vincent de Paul – Oakland Shelter
  • ALS San Diego Chapter
  • California Hospital Medical Center of Dignity Health
  • Mary’s Kitchen in Orange County
  • Feeding America – Inland Empire
  • Glean SLO
  • Central Valley Food Bank
  • Stockton Food Bank
  • Ranger Road
  • Lifting Up Our Foster Youth
  • San Diego Blood Bank
  • Vitalant
  • Crystal Pier
  • Salvation Army
  • Feed My Starving Children
  • Valley of the Sun United Way
  • Operation Gratitude
  • Assistance League of Phoenix – Operation School Bell
  • St. Mary’s Food Bank
  • United Food Bank
  • Banner Desert
  • Ogden City School Foundation
  • Fruit Ridge Community Collaborative
  • Sacramento Food Bank
  • Placer High School
  • Hartsong Animal Ranch Sanctuary