Happy New Year to everyone.
I hope all Ramona Community Foundation (RCF) members had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. We look forward to getting together with you this year.
Our first opportunity will be at Mama Rosas on Friday, March 10 at 4:30pm.
Join us for a presentation and discussion on new tax laws and how charitable giving can assist in mitigating tax liabilities. The evening will include drinks and appetizers.
RCF’s Paul Zawilenski and I will introduce and welcome Jason Rogers, AIS, CWS from San Diego Foundation. Jason serves as a subject matter expert and resource on opportunities to incorporate charitable giving strategies into the financial and wealth management plans, contributing assets in a tax-efficient manner, and identifying strategic giving options.
We want to thank Micole and Teri Moore, owners of Ramona Ranch Winery for hosting us in November.
Your 2022 grantees…
- $5,000 to Ramona Senior Center for its Senior Nutrition Program that serves nutritious meals to seniors that may be unable to provide for themselves.
- $5,000 to ArtReach for its Visual Arts Education at Ramona Program that will engage all K-6 students at Ramona Elementary in a series of visual art lessons and a culminating art exhibit.
- $5,000 to Feeding San Diego for its Ramona Together Tour, a monthly drive-through food distribution site that serves approximately 150 – 200 Ramona households.
- $5,000 to Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego for its Video Club to provide the equipment and skills to youth to produce videos that will address important issues.
- $5,000 to Voices for Children for its Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program to provide support, mentoring and advocacy services to Ramona children in foster care.
- $4,800 to Girls on the Run San Diego (GOTRSD) to fund a team of up to 20 third through fifth grade girls to teach physical fitness and boost self-confidence.
- $3,500 to TrueCare for its Uncompensated Care for Health Equity program that covers bundled visits so low-income individuals and families in Ramona can still receive quality care without the burden of cost.
- $3,300 to The Art Center (TAC) of Ramona for the Art Center Family Rural Arts Program that hosts a professionally taught, free monthly art event to Ramona families.
- $3,300 to Write Out Loud for Renewal Through Story, which are two programs that use the ancient art of storytelling to help build a more vibrant community for Ramona seniors and youth.
- $2,500 to Burn Institute for its Fire Safe Seniors program to provide seniors with new smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as fire safety education and smoke alarm maintenance.
- $2,500 to Heart and Hooves Therapy to provide on-site sessions and off-site visits to individuals/families who cannot afford animal-assisted therapy.
Would you be interested in being more deeply involved with RCF? We would love to have your leadership. Please contact me at rkrysak@krysaklaw.com or Trudy Armstrong at trudy@sdfoundation.org.
RCF has awarded well over $250,000 to benefit the community of Ramona over the last 10 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.
Robert Krysak
Chair, Ramona Community Foundation
Member Spotlight: Edwin & Jill Bacorn
Edwin and Jill Bacorn moved to Ramona in 1978 and joined RCF in 2019.
They want to assist Ramona’s ability to do more for the residences, add amenities and help local nonprofits’ professionalism, vision and outreach.
Ed and Jill have five children (three live in Ramona) and 13 grandchildren (10 live in Ramona). They all participate in many activities in and around Ramona.
Jill is currently a Trustee for Ramona Hall Town, now 129 years old. Our Town Hall is one of the very few remaining in the nation: it also promises to be a vibrant venue for community gatherings, performances, film screenings, lectures, events, gallery exhibits and meetings in the years to come.
Ed taught and coached at Ramona High School, Ramona Soccer and Ramona Pony Baseball. He was President of both Ramona Chamber of Commerce and Ramona Kiwanis.
Jill remains on the board of Ramona Council of Arts, Unlimited, which has been promoting the Arts and youth development in Ramona since 1968 through instruction and scholarship “For our children, our friend’s children and children who are our friends.”
Ed and Jill are founding members of Ramona United Methodist Church. Currently, they are championing Santa Maria Creek Greenway trail, Ramona Town Hall, Rebels N Soccer, and enjoying time with family – all this to enhance the community of Ramona, where we live, work and play.
Grantee Spotlight: Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project
Thanks to a grant from RCF, the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project placed its 29th mural in Ramona.
Located on the Main Street side of the Ramona Food and Clothes Closet building at 773 Main St., the photo-opportunity mural illustrates vineyards in the background with a large oak tree, a wine barrel with “Ramona” on it, and a bottle of wine and glasses in the foreground—and an attached bench where people can sit for their photo to be part of the scene.
The mural was created by artist Elisabeth Sullivan whose paintings and murals can be found in private residences and corporate collections as well as hospitals and other medical, therapeutic and dental facilities across the country.
At a public dedication ceremony on Oct. 11, 2022 led by Elaine Lyttleton, president of the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, visitors met artist Elisabeth Sullivan, searched for the hidden hearts included in all of the Ramona murals, and took photos of themselves as part of the three-dimensional mural that allows pedestrians to stand or sit in front of it to become part of it and have their picture taken.
In addition to funding the 29th mural, in 2018 RCF also provided funds to offer a modest honorarium to the artists who painted the 17 SDG&E utility boxes located on or close to Main Street throughout Ramona – a project also created and managed by the mural group.
The Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation whose mission is to encourage economic vitality in Ramona by increasing tourism, promoting community pride, and celebrating Ramona’s rich cultural heritage through an outstanding outdoor visual arts program.
For more information, see https://ramonamurals.com, or contact Elaine Lyttleton at lyttleton@sv-mail.com.
The members of the H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project Board of Directors and followers would like to take this opportunity to thank RCF for our generous grants.
