SUCCESS STORIES
The North Valley Community Foundation helps connect people with good hearts to good causes. We also remove barriers to help people with dreams for social good become reality.
Scroll down to see some of our success stories.
Bridging the Gap for Breast Cancer
Bridging the Gap for Breast Cancer has been a fund at NVCF since 2009. The fund hosts the annual Pink Ribbon Tournament at Canyon Oaks Country Club in Chico. Fran Wedow, the fund founder and a cancer survivor herself, has helped raise more than $500,000 since 1997 to support those impacted by breast cancer.
Chico Posse Foundation
The Chico Posse Foundation formed in 2016 with a mission to help people in need. The members became so good at that, and so good at marshaling donations, that they needed help managing the finances. The Chico Posse Foundation became a fund at NVCF, which allowed people to make tax-deductible donations to the group.
The Chico Posse Foundation, a group of eight women, had an outsized role in Camp Fire relief, connecting fire survivors to help that poured in from across the country. Four years after the fire, the Chico Posse Foundation decided to disband, its volunteer work in this chapter finished.
The Almanor Foundation
The Almanor Foundation opened a Nonprofit Incubator Fund with NVCF in 2021 and received its 501(c)(3) status less than 11 months later. Nonprofit Incubator Fund status allows organizations that are in the process of establishing a 501(c)(3) to access professional guidance and begin raising charitable donations through NVCF. Organizations can use that time to build a donor base and educate the community about the mission of the new nonprofit, as well as raise money to cover filing and attorney fees.
The Almanor Foundation is now heavily involved in Dixie Fire recovery and spearheading community improvement projects in Plumas County.
Chico Children's Museum
A group of residents had an idea to fill a void noticed by parents of young children in Chico, so they set out to start a children’s museum. Rather than going through the time-consuming and often-difficult task of starting a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, the organizers met with NVCF and decided to open the Chico Children’s Museum Fund through the NVCF where individuals and organizations could make tax-deductible donations.
After years of fundraising, planning and building, the museum opened to rave reviews from children (and their parents) in January 2019.
The Alex Project
After the tragic suicide of his teenage son, Dan Strauss approached NVCF knowing he wanted to do something to turn his son’s death into a positive – but he wasn’t sure what. After consulting with NVCF, they dreamed up the Alex Project. It tries to address what was a surprising deficiency and a contributor to teen suicide: that youths in distress could not reach help by texting. Youths will text when they won’t talk. Texting is familiar, discreet, and available.
The Alex Project promotes text messaging access to lifesaving crisis center services. The Alex Project financially supports the pioneering work of crisis centers with text messaging counselors.
Disaster Relief Funds
The NVCF has for years opened disaster relief funds for local, national and international events, such as a mass shooting in Rancho Tehama, the Oroville spillway evacuation, Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. We open disaster relief funds because local people want to help but don’t know which organizations to give money to. We then vet the local organizations at the site of the tragedy and send the donations to them, knowing they will get the disaster relief funds in the right hand.
The tables turned in a different direction on Nov. 8, 2018, when the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history hit Paradise, Magalia, Concow and other unincorporated parts of Butte County. That same day, we opened the Camp Fire Relief Fund so that people locally and nationwide could contribute to the relief and recovery efforts. We have raised millions of dollars and issued more than $57 million in grants to organizations working with survivors.
Purses for Primates
Allison Boyer was in the seventh grade when she became heartbroken over the plight of orangutans. Many orangutans are displaced from their habitats due to deforestation caused by the rapid growth of the palm oil plantation industry. She wanted to help.
She approached NVCF with her idea to start a nonprofit called Purses for Primates. She collected new and slightly used purses to sell at events. Before the fund closed in 2021, she raised more than $27,000 for her favorite orangutan organization, Orangutan Outreach. Orangutan Outreach used the funds she donated to transport orangutans from rescue centers into protected forests once they are ready to live in the wild.
Celebration Foundation
The Celebration Foundation existed under the umbrella of NVCF from 2009 to 2022. The fashion show fundraiser showcased the beauty, grace, and resilience of life beyond breast cancer. Celebration Foundation presented up to 40 breast cancer survivors in an empowering and inspirational show of courage, fashion, hope and talent.
First presented in 2009 by Butte/Glenn Medical Society Alliance, the celebration donated $202,182 to cancer treatment centers and cancer support funds.
Ethan McCoy Memorial Scholarship Fund
In October 2020, 10 year-old Ethan McCoy passed away from pediatric brain cancer. His parents had a calling to keep his memory alive while also supporting aspiring nurses in honor of those that supported Ethan on his journey.
Just two months later, they partnered with NVCF to establish the Ethan McCoy Memorial Scholarship Fund. Since its creation in December 2020, they’ve raised over $130,000 to provide scholarships to high school graduates pursuing nursing school.
