Addressing COVID in the Community

Posted June 30, 2020

In Community Initiative, corporate philanthropy, customized giving, Facebook Local Community Fund

By Savannah Lira, Program Officer

In 2012, PVF was selected by Facebook to administer their new Facebook Local Community Fund, due to our grassroots approach to grantmaking and knowledge of the community. The Fund was designed to support local initiatives in Facebook’s neighborhood as a way to give back.

This year, Facebook focused on addressing the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic within their community. Twenty-nine organizations helping to meet critical needs were awarded a Facebook Local Community Fund grant of up to $10,000. Read some of the awarded efforts below:

The Rosalie Rendu Center in East Palo Alto, known for its English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for adults, as well as career readiness and life skills classes, conversation clubs, supervised play for children, after school tutoring, and educational family field trips, are determined to continue to support their ESL students by hiring a mental health counselor.
Bring Me A Book provides book access to children and families in under-resourced communities through schools and community-based organizations, and are partnering with Bookelicious.com to diminish the COVID-19 slide in reading and support students to read on grade level or above by providing quality, age appropriate, high interest books. Students will have 4 opportunities to select chapter books mailed directly to their house. After reading each book, students will have the option to keep it, bring it to a site library or exchange the book with friends.
Foundation for a College Education (FCE), a nationally recognized college access and college success program, has expanded its services to ensure students do not fall behind and that they can complete their dream of college graduation, by providing better technology tools like chromebooks and WIFI routers to counter Covid-19 learning disruptions.

PVF is honored to administer a fund so dedicated to its community. You can read more about the Facebook Local Community Fund and requirements for applying on our website.