December 17, 2001

Silicon Valley Urgency Fund Awards $2 Million to Safety Net Agencies

San Jose, CA - 38 agencies that provide food, clothing, shelter, and health care to Silicon Valley families will receive an unexpected holiday gift today when philanthropist Jeff Skoll, Chairman and founder of the Skoll Community Fund, announces the first grants from the Silicon Valley Urgency Fund (Urgency Fund) at Community Foundation Silicon Valley (CFSV).

Led by the Skoll Community Fund, the largest supporting foundation at CFSV, the Urgency Fund responds to agencies' need to meet increased demands for their services at the same time they face steep declines in charitable donations and government funding due to the recession and other forces.

"More and more families are turning to local agencies for emergency assistance. Our goal is to help the most critical safety net services meet rising community needs during this difficult time," said Skoll, eBay's first fulltime employee and former president.

Each agency will receive a grant of between $5,000 and $175,000. Skoll initiated the Urgency Fund on October 23 with a Skoll Community Fund grant of $2.5 million to CFSV for the purpose of making "above and beyond" grants to organizations that would not ordinarily qualify for Skoll Fund support, and to encourage others to make similar commitments. Several local philanthropists joined the effort, raising the Urgency Fund total to $2.82M; they include the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation; the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health; the Morgan Family Foundation; Steve and Anita Westly; Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2); David and Holly Mendel; and Laura and Gary Lauder.

The first grants will be announced at 11 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 17 at the Christmas Center Facility of Sunnyvale Community Services, 840 W. Washington Ave., Sunnyvale, California. At the event, grant checks will be presented to Sunnyvale Community Services, Gardner Health Center, Second Harvest Food Bank, the Community Service Agency of Los Altos-Mountain View, St. Joseph's Family Center of Gilroy; and Asian-Americans for Community Involvement. The executive directors and client families from each organization will be in attendance at the event.

"This is an amazing gift to the community," said Nancy Tivol, executive director of Sunnyvale Community Services. "The need for our financial assistance services has been steadily increasing, up 27 percent over last year. This welcome grant ensures we'll be able to stand by our commitment not to turn eligible clients away."

Agencies receiving Urgency Fund grants were nominated by 12 area foundations and umbrella organizations such as United Way. Nominees who met the Fund's criteria for delivery of critical services in the areas of shelter, food, and primary health care were then asked to verify their budgets, to estimate the increased need for their services, and to estimate the gap between community needs and their available resources.

"Agencies confirmed what we knew was true: that needs were mounting-some by as much as 100 percent when compared to the same period last year-that resources were declining, and that both trends were accelerating," said Sally Osberg, Executive Director of the Skoll Community Fund. "Just prior to Thanksgiving, Second Harvest Food Bank told us that their supply of turkeys and chickens was half of what it was last year-and that translates into food shortages for the 618 agencies they supply and the hundreds of thousands of people served."

Recognizing that the holidays are a particularly difficult time of year for those in need, the Urgency Fund targeted December for its first round of grants. The Fund has reserved approximately $800,000 to meet additional needs for critical services in early 2002. The Fund will continue to accept donations through January, but all Fund resources will be fully granted this winter.

" One of my goals was for this to be a community effort, " Skoll said. "I have been heartened to see so many people and funding sources giving more than they might have planned. Here's one trend that's heading in the right direction!" Skoll cites as one example the Sobrato Family Foundation, which awarded $800,000 in grants to "safety net" organizations to support their core services during the foundation's recently completed grantmaking cycle.

Skoll's sentiments are echoed by Peter Hero, President and CEO of Community Foundation Silicon Valley, which is managing the Fund without charging any fees. "Silicon Valley is blessed with great generosity. We pull together in difficult times. Jeff's leadership in this project has brought broad awareness to the challenges our local organizations are facing. More important-it's making a real difference for the folks and families who are in greatest need."

Urgency Fund Awards:

Contact:
Terry Nagel - Skoll Foundation
media@skollfoundation.org