CONTACT:
Rebecca Salner, Media Relations Officer
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
650.450.5525 or rsalner@siliconvalleycf.org

PACKARD FOUNDATION DONATES $250,000 TO "STRENGTHEN THE SAFETY NET" CAMPAIGN

MOUNTAIN VIEW – Silicon Valley Community Foundation's " Strengthen the Safety Net" campaign has received a $250,000 donation from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The community foundation in October announced that it would commit up to an additional $1 million for food and shelter, matching donations from individuals and corporations that are made by Dec. 31, 2008. The $250,000 donation from the Packard Foundation will be matched by the community foundation.

As of today, the Strengthen the Safety Net campaign has received $488,000 in donations from individuals, corporations and other funders in less than one month.

"We are very pleased with the response we have received, both from our own donors and from generous funders like the Packard Foundation," said Emmett Carson, Ph.D., CEO and president of the community foundation. "We are appreciative of the Packard Foundation for its commitment to the health of our region and for being a leader in giving to our safety net campaign."

Nonprofit providers are facing a mounting crisis in which more people are seeking help at a time when funding is shrinking. The community foundation campaign is an effort to alleviate the crisis and provide more direct services to families and individuals struggling to find shelter or food to put on the table.

In September, the community foundation committed an initial $1 million to food and shelter as part of its new grantmaking strategies. Those strategies focus on immigrant integration, economic security, education, regional planning and a community opportunity fund that included grants to safety net organizations.

At its Regional Meeting on Oct. 15, the community foundation announced that it had set aside additional money because of the exponential increase in the demand for food and shelter. Every donation made by individuals and corporations by the end of the year is being matched dollar for dollar, up to $1 million.

That means that for every dollar given to the safety net fund, the community foundation will send $2 in grants to agencies providing critical assistance to families and individuals in need.

The "Strengthen the Safety Net" campaign could bring the total for safety net grants in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties up to $3 million.

To donate, go to www.siliconvalleycf.org and click on "Strengthen the Safety Net." Checks also can be mailed to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, 2440 West El Camino Real, Suite 300, Mountain View, CA, 94040, attn: "Strengthen the Safety Net."

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region's most challenging problems. Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the community foundation has more than $1.9 billion in assets under management and 1,500 philanthropic funds. The community foundation provides grants through donor advised and corporate funds in addition to its own Community Endowment Fund. In addition, the community foundation serves as a regional center for philanthropy, providing donors simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. Silicon Valley Community Foundation launched in January 2007 following the landmark merger of Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Peninsula Community Foundation and is now one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Find out more at www.siliconvalleycf.org.