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Health & Fitness

Lake Forest - Foundation or No Foundation?

Last time we looked at our city, filled with ready and willing volunteers and vexed by some long standing problems, and yet the Council refuses to appoint committees to help solve these problems. We also noted that among the rest of the 34 cities in Orange County, we were one of the lowest with regard to using Commissions and committees.

There is no ready answer for why we don’t engage our highly talented and motivated population. Indeed, several of the people occupying seats on the Council have promised to set up committees and/or Commissions, but that was when they were campaigning.

Today I want to look at a related issue – the use by cities of a nonprofit foundation. Many cities make good use of a nonprofit foundation to supplement worthwhile activities that go beyond the bounds of what a City can formally do. Even a cursory Google search reveals foundations in Santa Barbara, Stanton, Canyon City, San Marcos, Palmdale, La Mesa, Rancho Santa Fe, Hawthorne, Eastvale, Ceres, Lincoln, San Pablo, Garden Grove, Encinitas, etc. Closer to home, we have Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Fountain Valley,  Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Rancho Santa Margerita, etc.

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Let’s take a look at the mission statement from Rancho Santa Margerita’s Bell Tower Foundation to get some idea of what they do –

“The Bell Tower Foundation's goal is to continue to emerge as a community foundation that partners with local groups to further causes. This means support through monetary donations, use of our volunteer distribution list which we grow at local events, and launching programs that support the needy, the unemployed, the underserved, and the next generation in our community...”

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They supply food to the needy, support Camp Pendleton’s Team 2/5 Marines, the Boy and Girl Scouts, repairs homes for senior citizens in need, etc.

The Aliso Viejo Community Foundation was formed in 1989. Income in 2012 was $121,121 it had assets of $39,300. Among other things they partner with the City to host the annual Golf tournament which supports Boys and Girls Club and teen programs in the City, and the annual “State of the City” address which raises funds for scholarships for Aliso Niguel High School students.

The Mission Viejo Community Foundation was formed in 2005. Annual income ranges to nearly $100,00 and it had assets of $13,911 in 2010. Over the years they have provided funds to support a Marine Battalion and for a Teacher Assistance Grant program .

Hmmmm.

Didn’t Lake Forest just cancel our Marine Adoption ceremony because there was no money? Isn’t that what a Lake Forest Foundation could have helped with?

Hmmmm.

Aren’t the Kiwanis struggling to get a Boys and Girls Club for our City? Isn’t that what a Lake Forest Foundation could have helped with?

So where is the Lake Forest Foundation? More about that tomorrow.

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