collage of santa cruz county nonprofits

South32 Hermosa Community Fund Awards $105,000 to 14 Santa Cruz County Nonprofits

The South32 Hermosa Community Fund, a donor advised fund held at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, is pleased to announce that $105,000 has been awarded to 14 Santa Cruz County nonprofit organizations through its Spring 2023 Grant Round.

The South32 Hermosa Community Fund, a fund held at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, supports nonprofit organizations based in Santa Cruz County. Funded areas include arts, culture and history, environmental sustainability, health and welfare, recreation, and civic enhancement. Grants are awarded after review by a committee comprised of South32 employees and Santa Cruz County community members.

Patron of the Arts is an all-volunteer nonprofit that provides art experiences and classes to children and adults in Nogales, Arizona. Board President Elizabeth Weatherbie shared, “Receiving this grant will allow us to extend our programming to our community in many ways within the arts. It will help nourish our children’s arts programming. It will give our youth in the community more opportunities to experience visual and performing arts and encourage them in the arts and education.”

Child Health and Resilience Mastery (CHARM)’s Camp Druzy is a free overnight summer camp for families with children who are grieving a death or separation from a family member. Heidi Pottinger, Founder & Executive Director of CHARM, shared, “We are beyond grateful to receive a South32 Grant! CHARM has received a record number of referrals this year – over 50 grieving children and their families – and this number will only continue to grow. These vital funds will allow us the opportunity to continue to serve the community through Camp Druzy, which has been proven to strengthen the resiliency and well-being of the entire family. We are thrilled to receive this award, and our community of volunteers is honored to be able to hold this healing space to continue transforming grief for families in Santa Cruz County.”

Senior Citizens of Patagonia also received funding to help upgrade their commercial kitchen to continue meeting state health and safety mandates. Five days a week, this organization serves free lunches to its 175 clients, which include seniors and other people from within the community. “Stainless steel tabletops, cabinets, and work areas will greatly improve our ability to sanitize our kitchen, thereby ensuring the quality of health and wellbeing of the seniors and people whom we serve,” said Chuck Kelly, Vice President of Senior Citizens of Patagonia.

The South32 Hermosa Community Fund Spring 2023 Grant Recipients are:

Since 2019, the Hermosa Community Fund has awarded $791,950 to nearly 50 different nonprofit organizations. The application period for the next round of grants will open on June 9, 2023. Learn more here.