Photo credit: Park City Community Foundation
Without question, this year has been a rough one for nonprofits throughout Summit County, with COVID-19 significantly affecting fundraising and event revenues – even impacting the ability to maintain day-to-day operations for some. That’s why this success of this year’s Live PC Give PC on November 6th is even more critical than in years past.
Live PC Give PC – Park City’s day of giving – is coordinated by the amazing Park City Community Foundation, which showed its agility earlier this year by creating a Community Response Fund to best support those organizations that could directly help individuals impacted by COVID-19. So it’s no surprise that their goal for this year’s Live PC Give PC is to help the nonprofit community stabilize and recover from the financial impacts of COVID-19.
Photo credit: Park City Community Foundation
Over the past nine Live PC Give PC events, more than 5,000 donors raised $12.7 million for the 100+ nonprofits that make Park City and the surround communities one of the best places to live in the United States. Last year alone, $2.4-million was raised in just 24 hours, and I think we’re all hoping they’ll surpass that record in 2020.
Like most events this year, Live PC Give PC will look a little different in that the traditional end-of-day in-person celebration will not be held. Instead, they’re scheduling events that promote social distancing, including a community parade, promoting donation stations and livestreaming at livepcgivepc.org.
In honor of their 10th anniversary, I’ve highlighted 10 nonprofits worthy of your consideration due to the extraordinary challenges they’re facing as a result of COVID (though I encourage you to check out all of the participating nonprofits to find those that best match your giving priorities):
Photo credit: EATS Park City
EATS (Eat Awesome Things at School) is a nonprofit founded in 2013 following community concerns over healthy school lunch options, and works in each of the schools to help local kids develop lifelong healthy eating habits, in addition to having access to fresh, nutritious and appealing food. For this year’s Live PC Give PC, I’ll be gifting a matching grant to EATS as a closing gift to some of my valued, repeat clients who own a sustainable farm out of state, as their continued support of me as a realtor also supports our local community, and I’m happy to be able to “pay it forward” in a way that speaks to their passion to health and sustainability.
Christian Center of Park City (CCPC)
When COVID hit the Wasatch Back, one of the first organizations to provide immediate relief to our community was the Christian Center of Park City. Whether through its food pantries in Park City and Heber, its mental health counseling services, or the Back2School Basics program providing hundreds of local school kids with brand new clothing and school supplies, CCPC has tirelessly risen to meet the needs of the community. As our friends and neighbors continue to work to get back on their feet, CCPC has shown how it can adapt its services and strategically utilize the support it receives from each of us!
I think many theatre-going hearts broke a little when The Egyptian Theatre announced in August that it would need to temporarily cease operations and furlough employees to conserve funds while it figures out how to navigate without revenues from live performances during COVID. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single Parkite or regular visitor to Park City who has not enjoyed an evening of theatre or music, or even a Sundance film, in the cozy confines of the historic building. I’m rooting for The Egyptian to open its doors soon, and know now is the time for the community to galvanize its support of the storied institution!
Photo credit: Park City Education Foundation
I wrote about Bright Futures in my May 2020 post about the Park City Education Foundation and discovered the students supported by this program – which helps low-income, first-generation college students from 10th grade through college graduation – are facing tougher than usual circumstances because so many with part-time jobs were out of work following the coronavirus shut down in March. Many Bright Futures students are also breadwinners for their families, and with parents out of work, their contributions went to household expenses instead of saving for college costs. For that reason, it’s especially crucial now to help these local kids keep their college dreams alive.
One of the side effects of Coronavirus has been an uptick in animals being surrendered to shelters due to families suddenly finding themselves unable to afford food and medical care for their pets. A pet rescue and adoption organization, Nuzzles & Co. has expanded its efforts in response to COVID to help families affected by layoffs or reduced hours keep their pets by providing food and supplies via drive-through “pop-up pet pantries” in Salt Lake, Utah, Weber and Summit counties. There’s a reason Park City’s been referred to as “Bark City” for years, and organizations like Nuzzles & Co. have been helping our communities furry friends for many years, and I support the efforts wholeheartedly!
Park City Film is another organization adversely affected by having to pivot away from in-person activities, and has shown its agility in providing COVID-compliant opportunities through its Virtual Cinema and Twilight Drive-Ins at the Utah Olympic Park. Until they can once again occupy the Jim Santy Auditorium at the Park City Library for their regular Friday-Sunday screenings, I encourage all cinephiles to support our community’s longtime independent cinema source.
Park City’s domestic violence shelter has served families for more than 25 years, but Coronavirus has placed an additional strain on their resources, as violence is being considered the “co-pandemic” of COVID-19. Peace House has responded to the current needs of our community by moving beyond its doors and traditional outreach into the world of virtual education through Zoom presentations each Tuesday. Helping the mission of Peace House in an average year is a no-brainer, but in the current Age of COVID, it’s an especially important time for support.
Many of my clients chose to move their families to Park City to give their children a chance to participate in the myriad of outdoor activities readily available. Youth Sports Alliance helps introduce kids to these activities via its after-school Get Out &+ Play and ACTiV8 in Summit and Wasatch Counties, while also supporting seven competitive winter sports teams through need-based support of coaching, travel and equipment costs. They also make sure their programs are available to all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, by providing program scholarships. I support YSA’s mission to engage kids in our community in healthy ways, and am excited to see them continue to grow from their original elementary programs, to include programs for middle and junior high students, as well!
Photo credit: Park City Community Foundation
The Lucky Project works with individuals with disabilities to provide job training, social activities and community partnerships. The statistics are disheartening when you learn that, while one in five adults has a disability, fully 80% of disabled adults are unemployed. Join me in helping the Lucky Project assist these valuable members of our local community through programs like Lucky Ones Coffee, located in the Park City Library, in addition to their training and support services!
Throughout the pandemic, the Kimball Art Center has been helping the community “Creatively Quarantine” by providing online classes and virtual exhibitions, but the decades-old arts institution was dealt a significant financial blow when the annual Park City Kimball Arts Festival was canceled due to COVID-19 safety concerns. Funding for the Kimball is more critical than ever, as the arts center looks to build their future home in Park City’s Arts and Culture District and I encourage you to consider them as a candidate for your support.
Whatever you do to support our local nonprofits during Live PC Give PC or throughout the year, I know they are one of the many reasons increasing numbers of people Choose Park City for their future primary or second home over so many similar communities across the U.S.!
Connect with Christine Grenney at 435-640-4238, or visiting her website by clicking here to learn more about all of the nonprofits near and dear to her heart!