The Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona held its annual grant awards ceremony on Friday, Nov. 15, coinciding with National Philanthropy Day.
During the ceremony at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, ACF awarded $229,700 in grants to 63 area nonprofits, and representatives of the Burton Family Foundation, an organization that partners with ACF regional offices to facilitate nonprofit funding in rural areas, distributed an additional $105,310.
“It’s a day to celebrate the good in the world,” ACF Vice President Jennifer Perry said. “There’s a lot of crazy things happening, but this is a day for us to focus on what we can accomplish when we come together as a community, and what we can do to support each other as neighbors.”
The Cornville Community Association received $3,500 for four initiatives within its “Make A Difference” Project, including financial assistance for Low-Income Student Aid, support work for agricultural education at Oak Creek Elementary School, community cleanup days in Lower Oak Creek Estates and an immunization drive in conjunction with Yavapai County.
The Emerson Theater Collaborative received $3,600 toward its planned September 2025 production of Anita Yellin Simons’ play “Silence is not Golden Project,” on the topic of domestic violence, the proceeds from which will go to the Verde Valley Sanctuary.
“The Sedona United Methodist Church is going to collaborate with us,” Emerson producer Camilla Ross said. “We’ll have a discussion after the project with the [Sedona] Police Department will be a part of … We’re grateful when we get a grant from ACF or the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Because it’s helpful for us as an organization, as a nonprofit organization, to be able to have the very best for Sedona. That costs money, and so whatever show I do, I want to make sure that any patron that sits in that seat will get the best, the most professional show that we can offer.”
The Sedona Arts Center received $3,100 for its annual plein air festival, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in October with 21 artists participating.
“About 2,000 people attended over the course of the nine-day festival,” SAC CEO Julie Richard said. “Each artist is their own entrepreneur. Each one of them is a small business, so they’re all making money to support their lives.”
The Sedona Symphony received $3,600 for performances at the Sedona Winds Retirement Community in collaboration with the Sedona Arts Center, Chamber Music Sedona and the Yavapai Symphony Association.
“We’re also forming a close relationship with the Sedona Public Library; they hosted a fundraiser for us last month and we just shipped our grand piano to them for their exclusive use,” Symphony president Margaret Davis said. “This year is all about collaborations for us at the Sedona Symphony.”
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s St. John Vianney Conference’s rental assistance program received $3,500 and an additional $5,000 from the Burton Foundation. As of October 2024, about 30 families had received rental aid through the program, with many of the requests coming from residents of manufactured homes, according to St. Vincent de Paul volunteer Maureen Koza.
Low Income Student Aid received $7,000 for its “Greatest Need Fund” that will be used to fulfill direct financial aid requests from students in low-income families, including anything from doctor visits to lunch debt or extracurricular fees. Sedona Toys for Tots received about $2,600, which local coordinator Angela Thomas said will be used to purchase toys for children between the ages of 10 and 13 because a majority of toy donations are of toys specialized for kids for ages 3 to 6.
“What a lot of people don’t know about Toys for Tots is that every chapter has to raise their own funds,” Thomas said. “A lot of people think that the toys that come in the boxes are enough, and it’s not really enough on its own.”
Sedona Area Veteran and Community Outreach received $2,300.
“It’s to help supplement the cost of the Memorial Day Service that we have each year so it covers supplies such as water, chairs, printing and advertising,” SAVCO President Jack Ross said. “Our budgeted amount is $3,400, so that covers a good portion of it.”
The Sedona Community Food Bank received just over $4,000 from ACF to partly cover the cost of a refrigerated van.
“Which also could help with our food deliveries to our clients because we have people in need and we’re delivering to them,” SCFB Executive Director Cathleen Healy-Baiza said. “We had an anonymous donor that’s already helped us out with the cost of that, $10,000. Because … I think [the cost of the van] is going to be somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000 but it might be more.”
“We need more money to give back to the community,” Perry said. “The needs are not getting any smaller, but when people give through the community foundation, we have the benefit of pooling our gifts so people like myself can give to the community funds to make an impact today and know that it will grow for the future. So my goal is that people, as they make their giving decisions from now till the end of the year, give to the community fund so we can do more next year and for generations to come.”
Ninety-eight funding applications were reviewed by 50 volunteers prior to the awards being made. ACF will also be releasing its updated Northern Arizona Giving Guide, which highlights projects they would have funded if resources allowed.
This guide will be available in a few weeks at azfoundation.org.
“Education is one of ACF’s strategic focus areas, and the need in our region is immense. A quarter of our applications were for educational needs,” ACF Regional Director Sheri Denny said. “It’s $25,000 to start a fund at ACF, so any interested community member could start it in their name.”
For more information on charitable giving, contact Denny at sdenny@azfoundation.org or (928) 399-721
