June 2023

Progress Newsletter

For over a decade PVF has partnered with Meta to support their local charitable giving. In 2012, we were selected to administer their new Facebook Local Community Fund (now known as the Meta Local Community Fund), due to our grassroots approach to grantmaking and knowledge of the community. The Fund was designed to support community initiatives in Meta's neighborhood as a way to give back. 

Now 11 years later, the Fund has given over $1.8 Million in 350+ grants to various local nonprofits in East Palo Alto and the Belle Haven community of Menlo Park, areas that particularly struggle in the midst of the Bay Area's ever-widening inequality gap.

Each year Meta focuses on supporting small, grassroots programs that have a big

impact and a history of success in the communities served. This year, twenty-eight organizations helping to meet critical needs were awarded a Meta Local Community Fund grant of up to $10,000.

Grants went towards a variety of projects, including preparing first generation, low-income students for college, providing access to nature and exercise for residents, delivering food to home-bound and low-income seniors, and engaging members of all ages in taking an active part in community organizing.

Grant recipient Menlo Together focuses on housing, sustainability, and racial & economic justice in Menlo Park. Their Belle Haven Empowered initiative is a civic education and engagement program, by and for Belle Haven residents led by long standing community leaders of color. Funding from this grant will enable them to increase resources for community education and organizing, overall and especially with a focus on youth engagement.

Photos courtesy of Menlo Together

Fit To The Core was awarded a grant to address the lack of access to safe, professional, and affordable fitness training for aging adults. They plan to offer innovative, outdoor “boot-camp” style fitness classes and community walks, encouraging community members to get out, get moving and connect with one another.

"It is generally known that we in Belle Haven and East Palo Alto live in essentially a “health and fitness desert.” There has been a direct and immediate need for better alternatives. Aside from the few outdoor parks and recreational areas, there are almost no gyms and even fewer resources for safe, professional fitness training to aging adults who have often lacked access to these resources. Our mission is to build a world where “Everyone Can Age Well” regardless of their age, race, gender or financial circumstances." - Fit To The Core

For over a decade St. Francis of Assisi Youth Club has offered after-school, summer and recreational support programming to youth at low-to-no cost. A grant from the Fund supports their effort to develop curriculum and programming that support students' overall learning experience, with the goal that all participating students are able to perform at grade level by the end of the summer program.

"The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the learning experience of young learners in East Palo Alto. Research shows that “If a student cannot read at grade level by 4th grade it is a great disservice and they will likely remain behind with a widening gap every year if serious intervention is not achieved”. First and second grade is a pivotal time to identify learning differences and challenges so formal assessment can be done and the identifying of extra services needed can be provided." - St Francis of Assisi Youth Club

PVF is honored to administer a fund so dedicated to its community. You can read more about the Meta Local Community Fund and requirements for applying in the future on our website or by clicking the button below.