Greetings, all – we have passed the torch!
As of July 1, I am pleased to serve as your new chair of the Ramona Community Foundation (RCF). Please join me in thanking Kris Zook, who has done an amazing job of leading our Foundation over the last three years! While typically a two year position, due to the unusual circumstances during this year of COVID-19, Kris graciously served a third year. We are grateful for her leadership and many contributions to our community. Kris and her husband, Dennis, were gracious enough to even open their home for two of our grant celebrations. Thank you, Kris. We look forward to your continued leadership on the Board.
RCF is in its tenth year of grantmaking and the board is currently evaluating the submitted proposals. We look forward to an in-person grant ceremony in October!
Would you be interested in being more deeply involved in the Foundation? We would love to have your leadership. Please contact Trudy Armstrong at trudy@sdfoundation.org to let us know.
RCF has awarded well over a quarter million dollars to benefit the community of Ramona over the last 9 years. This is due to your generosity and pooled philanthropy. Please renew your commitment today, and share the incredible impact on our community by asking your neighbors and friends to join us in this critical work. Please contact Trudy Armstrong trudy@sdfoundation.org for assistance with a new membership or your renewal.
Bob Krysak, Chair
Member Spotlight: Kris Zook
Kris Zook and her husband Dennis moved to Ramona in 1991. They were looking for a “country” lifestyle and a safe, positive environment in which to raise their children. Their family fell in love with Ramona’s community of very special people. Now as retired empty nesters, Kris and Dennis spend their time riding their horses, playing pickleball, traveling and spending time with their children and grandchildren.
“The Ramona Community Foundation has given us an opportunity to give back to this town that has given us so much for these many years,” says Kris. “As outgoing chair, I look back at the past three years as a time where I learned more about the workings of the Foundation and how important
it is to Ramona. At every meeting and every event, I see the enthusiasm from the people who live here, and their love for this place. I see a great future for our town, and I know the people that make up the Foundation will be a huge part of it.”
We thank Kris for her service and dedication to the Ramona Community Foundation!
Grantee Spotlight: Feeding San Diego
Feeding San Diego is a non-profit organization on a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. Established in 2007, Feeding San Diego is the leading hunger-relief and food rescue organization in San Diego County and the only Feeding America affiliate in the region. The organization provides almost 40 million meals every year to children, families, seniors, college students, military families, and veterans in partnership with a network of local charities, schools, faith communities, meal sites, and food pantries.
With generous support from the Ramona Community Foundation, Feeding San Diego was able to provide ongoing food assistance directly to the Ramona community through its partner agencies, the Ramona Food & Clothes Closet (RFCC) and the First Congressional Church of Ramona (FCCR). Both the RFCC and the FCCR receive deliveries of produce and shelf stable items from Feeding San Diego year-round.
“Our organization is committed to providing food assistance throughout San Diego County, and that absolutely includes smaller, rural communities like Ramona,” says Ali Colbran, Director of Development, Institutional Giving & Donor Relations at Feeding San Diego. “With this grant, we have been able to continue serving the Ramona community throughout the pandemic and will have a presence in the community long after as well.”
