: : DONATE ONLINE now until midnight Dec. 31, 2012 : : www.montereycountygives.com

AGRICULTURE AND LAND-BASED TRAINING ASSOCIATION (ALBA)

Year Founded: 2001

Paid Staff: 15

Volunteers: 25

Budget: $1,800,000

758-1469

www.albafarmers.org

THE BIG IDEA: Wanna help low-income folks get essentially free local produce and promote healthy eating and local farmers? Eat Healthy Monterey! is ALBA’s 3-year-old program that helps food stamp-eligible consumers make their bucks go further in Monterey County farmers markets. For each $10 produce purchase, consumers receive a $5 token to buy additional healthy food at the market. The program has grown each year, but federal funding expires in 2013. The U.S. government expects local funding will step in – but apparently the feds aren’t familiar with California’s budget woes. Childhood obesity is a growing problem, in more ways than one, and it hits poorer communities especially hard. With this program, ALBA promotes healthy eating, gives low-income shoppers easier access to local fruits and veggies and increases farmers market volume. Sign us up.

GROWING GOODNESS: ALBA assists 75 farmers each year at its two training and incubator facilities in Salinas and Las Lomas. Says Hector Mora: “ALBA has helped me in every aspect of farming: how to produce, operate a tractor and market my products. I see myself being a farm operator for the rest of my life.”

CANCER PATIENTS ALLIANCE

Year Founded: 2001

Paid Staff: 8

Volunteers: 125

Budget: $550,000

658-0600

www.cancerpact.org

THE BIG IDEA: Salinas Valley is home to a large Latina population with high rates of cervical and breast cancer, and thin medical resources. Latina women are less likely to receive adequate cancer care and are more likely to be diagnosed at more advanced stages of cancer. Most women who are diagnosed and eventually succumb to cervical cancer have never had a pelvic exam. Additionally, many women eligible for subsidized mammograms do not take advantage of these services. Cancer Patients Alliance’s big idea for 2012 is to reduce the high rates of cervical and breast disease in Monterey County through its Salinas Valley Bridge to Cancer Prevention in Latinas and the Underserved (SVBridge) project. Staff and volunteers will distribute bilingual brochures and flyers, display clinic posters, conduct in-service education sessions for clinic personnel and provide current cancer screening recommendations to physician staff.

DOCTOR APPROVED: “We’ve known Cancer Patients Alliance for several years and endorse their important work for the underserved with cancer in our community,” says Laura Stampleman, M.D., a Salinas oncologist.

CENTRAL COAST HIV/AIDS SERVICES

Year Founded: 1988

Paid Staff: 15

Volunteers: 52

Budget: $873,935

394-4747

www.cchas.org

THE BIG IDEA: Some 600 Monterey County residents are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the 2010 Annual Report of Communicable Diseases produced by the Monterey County Health Department. And while disease management has improved over the past couple of decades, HIV/AIDS remains a terminal illness and those living with it face a host of issues that stand in the way of them receiving help, including substance abuse and homelessness. It if wasn’t for the CCHAS Client Services Program, hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients would likely be living on the streets. The program helps its more than 300 clients find housing – from emergency rental assistance and motel stays, tenant based rental assistance, and permanent housing – and gives them access to other supportive services, treatment, health care, basic needs and emotional support. Funding for CCHAS’ big idea will also pay for services like the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, case management, bus passes and end-of-life support for clients and their loved ones.

STAFF SUPPORT: “The staff at CCHAS have been very professional, helpful, loving and compassionate… and I have received great counseling, encouragement and words of wisdom.”

COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA

Year Founded: 2012

Paid Staff: 0

Volunteers: 100

Budget: $83,500

649-3050

THE BIG IDEA: Tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires – lucky us, we have to worry about all of the above here on the Monterey Peninsula. When the next emergency strikes, our elderly neighbors will be at the greatest risk. The newly formed CERV wants to step up the quality and quantity of both individual preparedness and community response readiness on behalf of the community’s elderly citizens. The nonprofit says it will launch this new initiative in concert with local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs to help local seniors respond to natural or manmade disasters and emergencies.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED: “Older Americans are often the hardest hit when Mother Nature is at her worst. Our project will take immediate action to help ensure that more of our elderly neighbors do not suffer the same pattern of neglect, lack of readiness and resources that have been so tragically documented in recent disasters.”

EVERYONE’S HARVEST

Year Founded: 2002

Paid Staff: 5

Volunteers: 15

Budget: $171,922

384-6961

www.everyonesharvest.org

THE BIG IDEA: A September study by former Pentagon military chiefs says junk food in schools is a national security threat because it’s making more than a quarter of 17 – to 24-year-olds “too fat to fight.” What to do about it? Teach kids about healthy eating. In 2012, Everyone’s Harvest Edible Education Program has conducted 20 interactive healthy cooking workshops with professional chefs involving more than 240 family members, led a half-dozen farmers market scavenger hunts connecting some 35 community members with fresh produce and small-scale farmers, and distributed and redeemed $3,420 worth of incentive coupons allowing community members to purchase more fresh produce at farmers markets. Moving forward, Everyone’s Harvest plans to host at least 12 more interactive nutritional presentations at after-school programs and other venues, reaching more than 360 youth. The nonprofit’s big idea is to help youth and their families make healthy choices by teaching them about nutrition, fresh produce and small-scale farming. It’s your patriotic duty to help.

NOT YOUR MOTHER’S BRUSSELS SPROUTS: “This actually tastes good and I didn’t realize how easy it would be to cook healthy,” says Gustavo, a father participating in an interactive healthy cooking workshop.

FOOD BANK FOR MONTEREY COUNTY

Year Founded: 1990

Paid Staff: 18

Volunteers: 500

Budget: $2,030,832

758-1523

www.foodbankformontereycounty.org

THE BIG IDEA: Growing a prosperous, vibrant community requires properly nourished children. Without food, kids’ bodies and minds can’t grow strong, or learn in school and participate in the community. The Food Bank is Monterey County’s largest and most comprehensive source for emergency supplemental food, serving about one-fifth of the population at 36 sites. It helps feed more than a quarter of the children in Monterey County. In 2013, it wants to teach children and families how to prepare nutritious meals and snacks, then send them home with recipes, fruits and vegetables so they can recreate these healthy meals in their own kitchens. Kids and families work together, learn healthy habits – and tasty, nutritious meals – and reap the benefits for life.

FRUITS OF OUR LABOR: “I lost my job and my husband’s business is very slow, but thanks to the Food Bank we have still been able to feed our family,” says Lisa, a mother of three.

GATEWAY CENTER OF MONTEREY COUNTY

Year Founded: 1979

Paid Staff: 109

Volunteers: 12

Budget: $3,925,668

372-8002

www.gatewaycenter.org

THE BIG IDEA: In July, Gateway Center began its strategic planning project – a three-year roadmap to financial stability that will allow the nonprofit to provide services to adults with developmental disabilities for many years to come. The project includes assessing clients’ needs and prioritizing services to be offered in the future. Here’s where Gateway Center needs community support: donations will help it offer new services, and existing support services including life-skills training; respite service, which allows families of developmentally disabled adults who live at home an opportunity for a break from caregiving; and Gateway’s residential program, which serves clients ranging from the moderately functioning to the profoundly disabled, providing 24-hour care, supervision and community outings.

HOME CARE: “John is a client with developmental disabilities. His mother passed away and he receives 24-hour supported living services, so he can remain in his home.”

HANDS TO HELP SENIORS

Year Founded: 2011

Paid Staff: 0

Volunteers: 8

Budget: $100,000

204-0402

www.h2hs.org

THE BIG IDEA: In its first year, the nonprofit has helped three Monterey County seniors. Hands to Help Seniors raised money for one man’s medical expenses, should he have to have additional surgery because of gangrene. Another client needed a tree next to her house removed before the next storm took it down – and onto her bedroom. The third needed her broken dentures replaced. None of the three could afford these expenses on their own. This year, Hands to Help Seniors wants to get the word out to seniors, letting them know about its services, and to donors so that it doesn’t have to turn away any elderly clients in need.

ANGELS AMONG US: “If the person helping me got sick, or had to leave town, I never had to worry. Richard [Kuehn, founder] was there immediately,” says program participant Gary Ness.

MEALS ON WHEELS OF THE SALINAS VALLEY

Year Founded: 1972

Paid Staff: 6

Volunteers: 120

Budget: $771,180

758-6325

www.mowsalinas.org

THE BIG IDEA: No Salinas Valley senior should go hungry. In Meals on Wheels of the Salinas Valley’s 40 years, it has helped more than 12,000 frail seniors and disabled adults receive nutritious, home-cooked meals. And it’s never had a waiting list for its services. The nonprofit wants to keep it this way. This year, it plans to deliver about 100,000 meals to seniors who can’t shop or cook for themselves, serving at least 450 seniors in Salinas and north and south Monterey County. The group doesn’t charge a set price, and asks seniors for a donation to help offset the costs of delivering meals. It suggests $2 for breakfast and $3 for a main meal, but the amount is voluntary and entirely up to the seniors. Help keep the costs low, and seniors healthy and in their homes.

ORIGINAL FOOD TRUCKS: “Our nutritious meals improve the health and well being of our clients and help them remain in their homes and maintain their independence.”

NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS (NAMI) MONTEREY COUNTY

Year Founded: 1984

Paid Staff: .5

Volunteers: 50

Budget: $22,000

375-6264

www.namimonterey.org

THE BIG IDEA: Many mental-health patients – low income and immobile by their circumstances – opt out of treatment or important meetings so that they can afford their next meal. The Alliance’s The Big Ride would remove a major obstacle and allow mental-health clients flexibility in their personal budgets by providing Monterey-Salinas Transit passes. Its goal is to distribute passes to clients throughout the year and during its annual Holiday Giving program, requiring $10,000 to meet its minimum goal. The Alliance’s Holiday Giving program provides more than 500 gift packages to clients in December. Adding MST tickets to the packages would help cash-strapped clients who are often stymied in their recovery by their inability to get around the community.

SUPPORT SERVICES: “NAMI Monterey County offers hope and reduction of stigma associated with mental illness through education, advocacy, service access and support for families and their loved ones living with mental illness.”

NATIVIDAD MEDICAL FOUNDATION

Year Founded: 1988

Paid Staff: 5

Volunteers: 50

Budget: $3.52 million

755-4187

www.natividadfoundation.org

THE BIG IDEA: Safety-net hospitals like Natividad make up only 6 percent of California’s hospitals but provide nearly 50 percent of all hospital care to the state’s 8.2 million uninsured and train half of all new doctors. Each year, Natividad has 43,000 emergency department visits, and an average of seven babies are born at NMC every day. The Foundation’s Greatest Needs Fund is designed to help cover the basic health care costs of poor patients in desperate need – from a tiny, premature infant to the homeless woman collecting cans to survive. Donations pay for direct emergency health care assistance including prescription medications, medical devices, food, clothing and end-of-life care for babies, children and families who live in our community.

GET YOUR TISSUES READY: “Losing a child is painful. But the care our daughter received was very special for us,” says baby Arlene’s mother, Maria. “I saw the care she received. I felt it.”

PLANNED PARENTHOOD MAR MONTE

Year Founded: 1964

Paid Staff: 1,044 (all numbers national)

Volunteers: 1,077

Budget: $100,630,421

783-6319

www.plannedparenthood.org/mar-monte

THE BIG IDEA: PPMM’s centers in Seaside, Salinas and Greenfield provided more than 33,000 patient visits last year. These include life-saving cancer screenings, breast health care, prenatal services, well-woman exams, contraceptive services, STD prevention and treatment. More than 90 percent of the services are preventative, which keeps patients out of the ER. It’s asking the community to help fund Girls’ Health in Girls’ Hands, a collaborative initiative of the Women’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Monterey County, helping girls 11 to 18 gain better access to health information, support and services so they can make positive health and lifestyle decisions. Participants are PPMM, Boys and Girls Club, Girls Inc., Monterey County Health Department, Rape Crisis Center and YWCA. PPMM’s role is peer education at Rancho Cielo and providing reproductive health presentations and leadership activities to the other groups. The girl-centered health education program will also teach local girls to be leaders, advocating for change and increasing access to information and support for their peers.

PUTTING THE CARE IN HEALTH CARE: “Health care is a basic human right, dispensed freely and without judgment to every person in need of our services.”

RICE PLUS PROJECT

Year Founded: 1992

Paid Staff: 0

Volunteers: 75

Budget: $45,000

624-6715

www.riceplusproject.org

THE BIG IDEA: One hundred percent of donations to Rice Plus Project feed, clothe and otherwise help the poor in our local community. The nonprofit purchases thousands of pounds of rice and beans every month, plus tortillas, peanut butter, canned vegetables and fruit. Donated items include additional foods, clothing, toys, linens, and housewares, all distributed to local families. It’s asking the community to help it buy these food items and other necessities – jackets, school supplies, blankets, hats for newborns, Christmas gifts for children, and tuition help and books for local college students.

SANTA’S LITTLE HELPERS: “We buy, wrap, and distribute gifts to children during the holiday season. Last year over 900 gifts were given.”

THE HOPE CENTER MONTEREY

Year Founded: 2009

Paid Staff: 0

Volunteers: 15

Budget: $45,000

920-7275

www.hopecentermonterey.org

THE BIG IDEA: The Hope Center feeds hungry families and their pets. It’s the only such Peninsula food pantry, and it relies on local donations to buy all of the groceries it gives away to hundreds of people, dogs and cats every month, distributing these items on the first and third Thursdays. It’s entirely run by volunteers, most of which are kids and teens. Without community support, it closes its doors. Local dollars ensure it can continue buying healthy food for all family members, even the furry four-legged ones.

PURR-SONAL TOUCH: “Thank you so much for the cat food and the food that I needed last month. You are all such a blessing,” says Hope Center client Nancy.

: : DONATE ONLINE now until midnight Dec. 31, 2012 : : www.montereycountygives.com