COMMUNITY
Page 14 - November 13, 2013
Morgan Hill Life - www.MorganHillLife.com
MHCF - Maximizes philanthropy
UNKNOWN HEARTS - 10th festival Nov. 8
Continued from front page
Continued from front page
profit tax and insurance umbrella to fulfill each of their unique
charters. A recent case in point is the Friends of the Morgan
Hill Senior Center, which granted $20,000 to the Centennial
Recreation Senior Center to fund a full-time case manager
hired to improve the seniors’ quality of life and independence
by helping them find and manage needed services.
Other MHCF partners and projects include: Art a la Carte,
which is a free children’s art fair every April; Project Roadmap,
which sponsors an annual conference in October and provides
guidance, resources and support services to first-generation
college students and their families; and, the South Valley Wine
Auction, a premiere food
and wine event held in
March to benefit Morgan
Hill Unified School District athletic programs.
In honor of National Philanthropy Month
each November, MHCF
hosts an event that brings
together nonprofits,
philanthropists, donors
and volunteers from about
two dozen organizations to
celebrate individuals who
exemplify our “give where
you live” philosophy in
service of the greater Morgan Hill community. This year’s
“Night of the Stars” event is a red carpet, paparazzi-styled affair with entertainment by acoustic jazz band “Nineteen” being
held this Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Morgan Hill Community and
Cultural Center.
MHCF is also a member of the Silicon Valley Community
Foundation, a renowned institution with a 50-year track record
in philanthropy and assets of more than $3 billion. With a
reputation for solving our region’s most challenging problems,
SVCF gives more money to charities than any other community foundation in the United States.
As a member of SVCF, we benefit from ongoing counsel,
guidance and a wealth of resources to ensure that MHCF
operates in keeping with the highest standards of excellence
and best practices for community foundations. We consistently
strive to maximize philanthropic results for donors and recipients. In accordance with SVCF guidelines and tax regulations,
each philanthropic organization under the auspices of MHCF is
designated as, or will be transitioned soon, to a “named fund”
from which charitable contributions and disbursements are
managed through the foundation.
record of
“Our$440,000 in
about
local grants over the
past 10-plus years
speaks for itself and
is something
of which we are
very proud.
”
Amy Whelan is the vice president of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation. For information about the MHCF, visit www.morganhillcf.org.
many times juveniles don’t realize that actions
School, Roberto Garcia, a philosophy major they take during their teenage years might close
at San Jose State University, and local high doors of opportunities for them in their adult years.
“They learn that it’s very easy for someone to
school student Hugo Naranjo.
violate the law and not realize that they’re viThe conference was established through a
olating the law and
grant from the Centhe
consequencters for Disease
es can be so seControl
REACH
vere without them
program,
Rossi
knowing,” he said.
said. The student
Larry McElvain,
organizers decided
the director of Morto call it “Corazones
gan Hill’s Discovery
Desconocidos —
Counseling Center,
Unknown Hearts”
was impressed by
to send the message
the number of peothat initial impresple who participated
sions of certain inin the first Unknown
dividuals don’t ofHearts conference.
ten reveal who they
A key component of
really are, she said.
Photo by Marty Cheek its success was hav“The
student
Kristopher Scott, a middle school coordinator for ing parents involved
organizers really
in learning how to
wanted to empha- Fresh Lifelines for Youth, and Ashley Eng, FLY’s
be more effective
law program coordinator, speak to students at
size with the conin raising their chilference title that the inaugural ‘Unknown Hearts’ conference.
dren, he said.
someone’s outward
“The students
appearance and what they show on the outside
are watching their parents come on campus
doesn’t necessarily reflect the true emotions
with them,” he said. “The parents go to one
that are inside their heart,” Rossi said.
Students and their parents attended a number workshop and they go to another, but it’s reof workshops during the day where they learned ally a family thing. So I think that builds a lot
from presenters how unwise choices they might of value around the family. You can’t solve a
make as teenagers can poss