Education initiatives for underprivileged communities as well as an organization offering support services to the homeless will receive additional financial assistance from a local charity.
The Elfenworks Foundation, a nonprofit headquartered in San Mateo, will split a $75,000 donation equally between three social service organizations during an event next week.
Mobile homeless hygiene organization Lava Mae, technology education company CODE2040 and professional development program BUILD will accept $25,000 in grant money during the In Harmony with Hope award ceremony Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Kohl Mansion in Burlingame.
Lauren Speeth, founder of the Elfenworks Foundation, said she hopes the money will help spread optimism through communities in need of additional support.
“We dwell in possibility,” she said. “Without hope, life is toxic. Hope is active. So we encourage making positive choices every day.”
All three organizations embody that vision in different ways, said Speeth, as each works to help communities faced with sizable challenges overcome barriers to success.
BUILD, headquartered in Redwood City, assists local students and young people from East Palo Alto and other underprivileged communities hone business development skills in entrepreneurial programs designed to be aligned with Common Core and other modern curriculum education standards.
Suzanne McKechnie, founder of BUILD, said she deeply appreciated the support offered by the Elfenworks Foundation in a prepared statement.
“BUILD uses entrepreneurship to spark the development of key academic and life skills in high school students who face enormous barriers to opportunity,” she said. “The In Harmony with Hope Award reflects the commitment we at BUILD have to serving our youth and helping them onto a successful path through school, career and life.”
The Elfenworks Foundation has operated out of San Mateo for the past decade, raising money and offering it to a variety of community support organizations. Speeth said she was driven to run the nonprofit as part of an effort to improve her local community.
“Each of us have a vision for how we want things to be better,” she said. “So I leverage my special set of skills and look to who I can partner with to make a change.”
A former computer programmer, Speeth said her call to action was enhanced in the wake of an exchange with former President Jimmy Carter, who encouraged her to use her abilities in communication and collaboration for good.
“He told me that we should all use our skills to address problems in unmet areas,” she said.
Speeth’s foundation offers three annual grants, funded partially through a partnership with Wells Fargo and has donated to 30 Bay Area community service organizations.
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Winners are invited back to an annual award gala, which Speeth said is beneficial in helping to build a network of organizations sharing a common interest in improving the local community.
That many people may not recognize the work done by the foundation is by design, said Speeth.
“We like to remind people about their own power to make a difference,” she said. “We are the elves behind the scenes. We are less interested in being known about than people and students recognizing their potential for being really wonderful change agents.”
Speeth said a unique component of this year’s event is that each of the recipients are founded by women.
Lava Mae transforms former municipal public transportation buses from San Francisco’s old fleet into a mobile shower and bathroom platforms servicing homeless populations.
Doniece Sandoval, founder of the Lava Mae, said in a prepared statement she was honored to receive the most recent round of grant funding from the Elfenworks Foundation.
“We are proud of our commitment to bringing humanity, innovation and collaboration to the way services are provided to those experiencing homelessness through our mobile shower services and pop-up care villages, and this recognition will further our efforts to restore dignity, rekindle optimism and fuel a sense of opportunity among those moving through homelessness,” she said.
Laura Weidman, founder of CODE2040, expressed a similar sentiment in a prepared statement.
“We at CODE2040 believe the tech sector, communities of color, and the country as a whole will be stronger if talent from all backgrounds is included in the creation of the companies, programs and products of tomorrow,” she said. “The In Harmony with Hope Award reflects the importance of an inclusive tech industry and helps to amplify the voices of marginalized communities.”
The company focuses on building coding and technology engineering skills among communities of color throughout the Bay Area.
In all, Speeth said she was proud to offer financing to a variety of programs doing so much good work to improve local communities and offering support to those in need.
“We value positive partnerships and the message that they can make a difference,” she said.
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