Sometimes there are more important things than wine and food. Today I wanted to share this press release from must! charities about the afterschool program they are launching with Atascadero Kiwanis Club and the Boys & Girls Club. You can read the press release for details and the only other thing I will add is that if you’re unfamiliar with must! charities, please check them out and do what you can…donate money, donate time…something.
must! charities & Atascadero Kiwanis Club Partner with Boys & Girls Club to Launch Afterschool Program
Kiwanis approves a 3 year match challenge donation from must! charities for Boys & Girls Club
Templeton, Calif. (September 17, 2015) –The Kiwanis Club of Atascadero and must! charities have committed to a 3 year donation for Boys & Girls Club, with the opportunity for must! to match the Kiwanis donation dollar for dollar. The funds will be given to the Boys & Girls Club of North San Luis Obispo to help launch a year-round afterschool program in Atascadero.
There are over a thousand children in the North County who do not have a safe place to go after school. Must! charities has been working with the Boys & Girls Club for the past few years to help alleviate this problem. What began as a project to turn around the Paso Robles Club and get it healthy and operating in a sustainable productive way was very successful and has now launched into an expansion model to help serve more families in need in the North County.
“When we heard that Kiwanis of Atascadero had chosen Boys & Girls Club as their beneficiary for their 2015 Winemaker Dinner & Auction, we thought this could be a great opportunity to partner & leverage our dollars,” said Becky Gray, Executive Director of must! charities. “We like to give strategically over time, so that the impact of our dollars go further and the return on our investment is more than a one time drop in the bucket. Must! charities believes wholeheartedly in collaboration, it is the premise of our mission; it’s how we operate successfully.”
Over the past few months, leaders of must! and Kiwanis sat down together to talk about community needs, and learn more about how each organization operates. A commonality in core values and goals for the community surfaced and further discussions led to the potential idea of partnering in a strategic way. In a recent membership meeting the Kiwanis approved the 3 year giving commitment and partnership with must! charities.
“Kiwanis is proud and excited to partner with must! charities and the North County Boys & Girls Club to bring an after-school program to the children and families of Atascadero,” said Glen Casey, president of the Kiwanis Club of Atascadero. “The Boys & Girls Club program fits our commitment to community and children to a T. Providing sustainable funding through must! charities and Kiwanis allows the Boys & Girls Club to ramp up their external funding program and staffing without initial financial concerns. Our three-year collective commitment is substantial, however, we look forward to an even longer association with both must! charities and the Boys and Girls Club as the program matures and grows in Atascadero and other opportunities present themselves as we strengthen our community.”
Kiwanis International is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary this year and the Atascadero Club its forty-sixth. The club has grown 17 members this year to 96 active and involved participants providing service to Atascadero. The Kiwanis mission is “to improve the world one child and one community at a time.” The Kiwanis Club of Atascadero fulfills this mission with projects that benefit children directly. Kiwanis was recognized as the top fund raiser for El Camino Homeless Organization’s (ECHO) “Long Walk Home” and the “Relay for Life” twenty-four hour walk.
Must! charities is driven by a collaboration of North County residents and business leaders dedicated to improving life within the region. They empower local organizations to make strategic change that creates long-term, sustainable improvement. Must! charities began in 2012 with six investors/partners, and over the past three years has built up to over 250 investors/partners. Funds donated to the organization are pooled and then gifted strategically through collaboration between must! and the non-profit they are servicing. This way of gifting is also known as “Venture Philanthropy.” It is similar to venture capitalism, however instead of looking for a positive cash return on their investment, must! Investors/partners seek a positive social return for the community. Must! doesn’t merely write checks, but strategically leverages its donations with business expertise, helping community based organizations increase their impact on the lives they serve.
Since their inception must! charties over the past three years has embarked on many collaborative projects with local non-profit organizations and has invested over $700,000 into our communities.
For more information about must! charities or their projects visit www.mustcharities.org.
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About must! Charities
must! charities, located in Templeton, CA is dedicated to lessening the effects of poverty by working alongside existing organizations to make a greater, more focused impact through collaboration. must! charities fosters relationships through a blend of expertise, research, and other resources, to empower existing non-profits to make strategic, sustainable change throughout the region.
Contact must! charities to learn more:
email: becky@mustcharities.org
website: www.mustcharities.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mustcharities
Twitter: @mustcharities
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