Community Link
A newsletter of Napa Valley Community Foundation  
June 2016
Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are, says an old Russian proverb.

At Napa Valley Community Foundation, we are fortunate to be surrounded by lots of good friends.  These friends of ours generally fall into two camps: generous residents, who donate time and money to make our community stronger; and, hardworking public charities, who devote themselves to the health and welfare of others.

Most often, we use the pages of this newsletter to talk about public charities, and the particular projects they undertake that we have vetted and believe in.

Today, we're going to talk about our donors instead.

We are proud to work with civic-minded people like Lenore Hirsch, a retired educator and prodigious volunteer.  Lenore says:  "After 31 years as a teacher and elementary school principal, I created a Scholarship Fund to help young people be successful."  Since inception, the Lenore Hirsch-Jay Falk Scholarship Fund has distributed $25,000 to 32 deserving Napa County high school seniors.

We are honored to watch over the intentions of forward-looking residents like Francis Dawson, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine who created a Legacy Fund at NVCF through his estate plan.  When Dr. Dawson passed away in 2007, assets from his estate created a permanent endowment that will fund trails, culverts and benches in Napa's Allston Park--forever.  Since inception, the Francis E. Dawson Allston Park Fund has distributed $69,400 to enhance and improve Allston Park, to the delight of countless area dog owners and non-dog owners, alike.

Finally, we are grateful to work with strategic givers like Peggy Rawls, who created a Donor Advised Fund with us when she purchased a home in the Valley a little more than 10 years ago.  Peggy says: "I use the Community Foundation to help me pinpoint the organizations that are most in need."  But don't take our word for it. Please click on the image below to see a short video about how Peggy uses NVCF to make her local giving more impactful. 


Lenore, Francis and Peggy - they are three friends among hundreds.  Their generosity, and yours, makes this community stronger every day. 


Terence P. Mulligan
President
Napa Valley Community Foundation