The Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Foundation has handed out twelve new grants worth $485,000 in total. The announcement came from Camarillo, California, on November 5, 2017, through the Ventura County Community Foundation.
Because the foundation spreads its giving, the money reaches a wide mix of causes. It covers youth development, senior services, basic needs, the arts, veteran services, dental care, mental health, philanthropic services and scholarships.
The largest award, $100,000, went to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard & Port Hueneme for youth and teen programs. After that, several other groups received $50,000 each:
- DRAGG, Inc., as a matching grant for a program director position;
- the Museum of Ventura County, for general operating support;
- Terra Marine Research and Education, for its research center and museum on the Channel Islands.
The Gold Coast Veterans Foundation got a $40,000 matching grant to fund two veteran service positions. The Salvation Army in Oxnard also received $40,000, which goes to its free dental clinic.
Smaller grants then round out the list. CAREGIVERS: Volunteers Assisting the Elderly received $30,000 for volunteer care of seniors, while the Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association got $20,000 for hospice and bereavement services for Oxnard seniors. FOOD Share, the Turning Point Foundation and the TEACh Scholarship Fund each received $25,000. Turning Point will put its share into supportive housing with mental health services in Oxnard. The TEACh fund pays for scholarships for Ventura County youth who are in foster care or were in it before.
Finally, the community foundation itself received $30,000 to support a Donor Services Officer position.
Margie Tegland, who chairs the foundation, is also the daughter of its founders. She said the goal of the grants is to make the community stronger.
Martin V. Smith, known as Bud, and his wife Martha set up the foundation to improve the quality of life in Ventura County. It pays special attention to groups that serve the Oxnard Plain, and four of the couple’s descendants sit on its board. Since 1994 it has been a support organization of the Ventura County Community Foundation. In that time it has made more than 250 grants totaling over $16 million.