Dear Friends:
Leo Buscaglia’s philosophy of love, empathy and “paying it forward” is needed now more than ever! His message is timeless, and we hope you will help share the message during the holiday season and then favorably consider a tax-deductible gift to the Leo Buscaglia Foundation.
While teaching at USC, a student of Leo’s committed suicide. This moved him to explore human disconnectedness and life’s meaning. As a result, he created a noncredit class, “Love 1A.” This became the basis for his first book, titled simply LOVE. Leo authored 14 books and was hugely popular on PBS as “Dr. Love.” To learn more about his life and work, explore our website and click here.
Before he died, Leo formed a public nonprofit charitable foundation (organized primarily to benefit the public) funded from his personal resources. The Leo Buscaglia Foundation has carried on in his name, through its diverse Board of Directors, by making grants to smaller nonprofit organizations. Each Buscaglia awardee integrates the values of love, compassion and the spirit of giving back through dynamic programs in education, social services and the arts.
Besides his unshakable belief in the power of love, Leo firmly believed in the power of community. He purposely set up the foundation as a nonprofit because he hoped to encourage others to share in the foundation’s work.
We are very appreciative and grateful for your past support. We sincerely request that you contemplate joining us by making a gift to the Leo Buscaglia Foundation.
With warm wishes and love,
Keri S. Botello
President
Leo Buscaglia Foundation
PS: Please take a moment to review some of the organizations below that have received support from the Buscaglia Foundation in 2019 and perhaps peruse the list of Leo’s publications available for order here.
*Your donation may be tax deductible according to IRC Section 170.
2019 Grant Recipients
Access Books – Los Angeles, CA. Received a grant for the purchase of books to be shared throughout Los Angeles. The mission of Access Books is to provide high interest reading material to under-served children in Los Angeles by providing low income neighborhoods with a warm and welcoming school or community library. Their purpose is to advance childhood literacy in poor schools so children will have the foundation they need to be lifelong readers and leaders.
Families and Criminal Justice – Los Angeles, CA. Received a grant to go towards program expenses that support the critical relationships between FCJ participants and practitioners. These include telephone and internet access costs, printing and duplication costs and home visitor mileage. Families and Criminal Justice operates under the fiscal sponsorship of Special Services for Groups. They were founded with the mission of preventing inter-generational crime and incarceration. Their goal is optimal health and development among the youngest children of families involved in the criminal justice system. Families and Criminal Justice also received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in November 2016.
Festival Ballet Theatre – Fountain Valley, CA. Received a grant for its arts education programs introducing at least 7,230 people, mostly children, to the art form of ballet. Funds would allow for the expansion of the Community Outreach and Donated Admissions for Disadvantaged Children Programs. The mission of Festival Ballet is to enrich Orange County’s artistic and economic vitality, to inspire love and appreciation for dance and to invigorate ballet through exhilarating performances, a nurturing environment for dancers and choreographers and stimulating educational outreach programs for children and adults. Festival Ballet Theatre also received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in March 2015.
The Healing WELL – San Francisco, CA. Received a grant for their leadership program including participant stipends, food for meetings and trainings, for materials for wellness programming and for transportation, admission and food expenses for off-site programming and activities. “The Healing WELL offers calm in the storms of poverty and prejudice, mental illness, substance abuse and addiction. Inspired by ideals of compassion and justice, we love and guide one another so we can step further into brighter futures, healing ourselves and our greater community.” They promote healing and wellness by offering free daily sessions like meditation, yoga and 12-step support groups to an average of 160 low-income people each month. The Healing WELL is a fiscally sponsored (but financially independent) project of Community Initiatives.
Italian American Museum of Los Angeles – Los Angeles, CA. Received a grant to support the production of free, multidisciplinary arts performances presented at the IAMLA and other locations in Los Angeles County that will acquaint the public, especially youth and under-served communities, with the varied artistry of the Italian diaspora. Funding will support the production of programming, including professional fees as well as staff salaries related to the production of programming. The mission of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles is to foster understanding of Southern California’s diverse heritage through research, historic preservation, exhibitions and educational programs that examine the history and continuing contributions of Italian Americans in multi-ethnic Los Angeles and the United States. Italian American Museum of Los Angeles also received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in March 2015.
Jubilee Consortium – Los Angeles, CA. Received a grant to support their Jubilee Jump youth program for one year. The Jubilee Jump program provides jump rope classes, nutritional training, mentoring and leadership development to low-income children in and around Los Angeles. The Jubilee Consortium is a collaborative effort by inner city Episcopal churches to serve low-income communities in Los Angeles. Their mission is to create healthy and just neighborhoods through enrichment opportunities and leadership programs that contribute to providing access to healthier lifestyles and knowledge of how to lead a healthier life.
Mission to Assist and Provide for Seniors (MAPS Charities) – Sherman Oaks, CA. Received a grant to support their core Senior Safety Net program over the next year. Funds will assist low income seniors by safeguarding shelter and purchasing life-changing medical devices, durable medical equipment and other items to help them remain healthy, safe and independent in their homes. MAPS Charities assists disadvantaged elderly people in Los Angeles County with funds for short-term solutions for critical concerns, by providing direct funds that allow them to stay in their homes, take care of their health and enhance their quality of life. MAPS Charities also received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in March 2016.
Program for Torture Victims – Los Angeles, CA. Received a grant to support staffing of program personnel (Clinical Director and Case Managers) with fringe benefits and mileage for staff to meet with clients and host-home volunteers. The mission of PTV is to assist the courageous survivors of state-sponsored torture and persecution who have stood up for freedom, equality and human dignity. With their mission, PTV supports those who have stood up for others. These include journalists reporting on corruption or injustices, teachers who teach against the propaganda of a party or regime, doctors or officials who help others against the dictates of a government, and others who stand up for human dignity.
Rebuilding Together Mountain Communities – Blue Jay, CA. Received a grant to support their volunteer activities (i.e. T-shirts, meals and snacks) and to provide tools and equipment for volunteers to use. RTMC in partnership with the local community, rehabilitates homes of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly, disabled and families with children to ensure that they remain in their homes safe, warm and dry. RTMC is an affiliate of Rebuilding Together, one of America’s largest national volunteer organization.
RowLA – Santa Monica, CA. Received a grant to support their first paid Executive Director position. RowLA combines intensive rowing activities with individualized academic support to empower girls in the City of Los Angeles to pursue excellence in all dimensions of their lives. RowLA engages girls from under-served communities in the Los Angeles area, offering them intensive rowing activities, academic tutoring and college counseling as a means of encouraging them to become student-athletes, confident in their abilities to make wise choices for themselves and those they affect.
South Bay Village Incorporated – Torrance, CA. Received a grant to support program expenses associated with volunteer recruitment, training and retention, as well as activities associated with connecting volunteers to seniors in need. The mission of South Bay Village is to help seniors in their community age in place with dignity and self-respect. Their purpose is to coordinate and deliver a range of volunteer driven services and programs that support health and wellness among older adults.
Team Prime Time – Los Angeles, CA. Received a grant to provide resources and purchase equipment and materials for TPT’s programs including Prime Time Games, Prime Time Trials, Westside BAY Club “Adopt a Beach” program with Heal the Bay and Marshall Mentors program in conjunction with the USC Marshall School of Business. The mission of Team Prime Time is to provide intervention programs for at-risk youth from low-income areas of Los Angeles that combine academics, athletics, leadership training and the arts in order to prepare them for the future and allow them to reach their full potential. Team Prime Time also received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in September 2017.
UCLA UniCamp – Los Angeles, CA. Received a grant in support of their Volunteer Leadership and Training Program. UCLA UniCamp is the official student charity of UCLA, operating as an independently funded, secular, non-profit organization linking UCLA students with the Los Angeles community. Each year, UniCamp inspires over 1,000 children from low-income families to envision brighter futures by sending them, along with over 400 UCLA student volunteer counselors and staff to its residential outdoor summer camp in the San Bernardino mountains. For over 80 years, UCLA UniCamp student volunteers have harnessed the healing power of the wilderness to improve their community by providing a unique outdoor camping experience for under-served children in the community.