2023 Report to Contributors

2023 Grant Recipients

Adventures to Dreams Enrichment – Long Beach, CA.  Received a grant to support their youth garden program.  The funds will be used for lumber for raised garden beds, garden supplies including soil and fertilizer and hands-on educational activities for their youth camps.  Their garden serves over 50 youth through enrichment programs and over 250 community members through monthly food giveaways.

The mission of Adventures to Dreams Enrichment is to empower youth by teaching them to grow their own food, engaging them in enrichment activities, providing mentorship and offering a safe environment to lean and play.  This provides an open avenue to creativity and open-ended thinking skills.

Arts Bridging the Gap – Los Angeles, CA.  Received a grant to support the 2023-2024 Arts+Wellness programs at Fairfax High School and LA High School.  Specifically, the grant will support Program Manager Ariella Kirschbaum’s salary, teacher fees and classroom supplies.  ABG expects to reach 75 students at each school with the broader school populations engaging with the final projects.

Arts Bridging the Gap is a 501(c)3 Social Justice organization that uplifts the voices, experiences, and self-expression of youth from under resourced communities through immersive arts programs. They seek to cultivate the skills, mindsets, and connections that will allow youth to be their best and fullest selves, as individuals and as members of diverse, thriving communities.  They currently offer five educational programs that utilize the arts to provide resources and support for young people in under resourced areas to realize their full potential.

Elevate Your G.A.M.E. – Los Angeles, CA.  Received a grant to purchase shirts and other supplies for students participating in their Go Mentor campaign.  They anticipate 75 students participating at a cost of $20 per student The mission of Elevate Your G.A.M.E. (EYG) is to lift urban students higher (through mentoring) in their Grades, Attendance and Maturity to Empower them to be leaders who bring about positive change in their schools, communities and the world. Their vision is to be a catalyst that ignites a movement of mentoring that spreads into every urban community in America to lift urban students higher in their academics and character.

The Eli Home, Inc. – Anaheim, CA.  Received a grant for Case Management of their CARP (Children of Addicts Recovery Program).  CARP is Eli’s most recent innovation aimed at addressing child abuse, homelessness, and addiction, three of the most pressing social problems of our time. CARPs long-term goals for mothers are sobriety, improved parenting and family relationships, stable housing, financial independence and self-sufficiency.  Between 7/1/22 and 6/30/23 the CARP program served 123 mothers and children.  The Eli Home’s mission is to break the cycle of child abuse.  It aims to strengthen and build resiliency in the lives of children of abuse, neglect, homelessness, poverty, mental illness, undocumented, incarcerated, or addicted parents and prepare them to lead non-violent and equitable lives through shelter, counseling, education, support, and advocacy.

Fallbrook Food Pantry – Fallbrook, CA.  Received a grant to help expand their nutrition, wellness, and vocational education courses that support 1000 children and adults. Funds will go to direct program expenses such as food, supplies, educational materials, and educator salaries.  The Fallbrook Food Pantry is a non-profit organization primarily staffed by volunteers.  Its mission is to provide an adequate and nutritious supply of food to individuals in their community who are in-need. They address food insecurity and social determinants of health by reducing inequities through food distribution, education, and health monitoring. For over 30 years, FFP has served a culturally diverse community of low-income and disadvantaged families and empowers clients to become self-sufficient, independent and productive members of the community. 

Fringe Benefits Theatre – Los Angeles, CA.  Received a grant to support their two current youth leadership programs: A. Their "Creative Tools for Critical Times"/CT4CT multi-school, multi-community arts for civic engagement initiative comprising workshops, internship trainings, performing arts showcases, a web-based video series, and a webinar series led by leaders in the field of Community-Based Arts. These workshops serve approximately 900 people, primarily youth.  B. Their "Join Forces & Create Change!" Theatre for Social Justice Residency bringing together middle school youth in Southern California and in Irpin, Ukraine.  This residency serves 30 local middle school youth participants, 25 youth participants in Ukraine, and approximately 1,250 local middle school audience members.

Fringe Benefits is an educational theatre company dedicated to early hate crime prevention.  Their mission is to replace hate with understanding through collaboratively created plays, videos and programs that promote constructive dialogue about diversity and discrimination issues. They are committed to opening hearts and minds and promoting progressive action around a wide array of social justice issues including racism, sexism, classism, ableism, ageism, and immigration rights.  Fringe Benefits Theatre received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in February 2021.  

Grossman Burn Foundation – Calabasas, CA.  Received a grant to be used entirely towards the Annual Grossman Burn Foundation Family Camp 2024.  The purpose of the camp is to reignite the community’s passion for giving back and paying it forward to each other at camp. This would be part of its revival and second year returning since pandemic precautions, so that we can physically gather our burn survivors and families for confidence building activities and rehabilitation through an inspiring and motivational camp. A grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation would be used to help pay for campground expenses, transportation, and food so that these families can gather and encourage each other to find strength and generosity in this community. Family camp is projected to serve 200 people this year.

The Grossman Burn Foundation’s mission is to promote effective, sustainable partnership solutions for the comprehensive treatment, care, and support of burn survivors and their families in the United States and around the world. 

Haven Academy of the Arts – El Segundo, CA.  Received a grant to support their hART of the City program.  This program offers tuition-free Summer Theater Camps with instruction in acting, music and dance.  The camps are designed to develop character and life skills in their students.  Last year’s camps served over 130 K-8 students in low income areas of Los Angeles County.  They hope to hope to increase this number to over 150 students in their next round of camps.

The mission of Haven Academy is to develop character in future leaders through the performing arts and give them the tools, life skills and sense of purpose they need to leave a legacy in their community.  Haven Academy of the Arts received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in March 2017.

Marcus Foster Education Institute: Mentoring for Academic and Professional Success (MAPS) – Oakland, CA.  Received a grant to support their MAPS project.  Funds will be used in two ways. They will help students pay the costs associated with applying to graduate school programs including application fees, exam prep fees, and the cost of the exam itself including the GRE, GMAT, and LSAT.  MAPS will also use the funds to pay honorariums to their mentors and webinar facilitators. The project teaches 4 online webinars annually that introduce students to various career paths that require an advanced degree. These webinars are attended by approximately 50 students annually and another 75 register and have access to the recordings. In addition, every year we engage with about 25-30 students who are interested in submitting graduate school applications.

MFEI is a nonprofit dedicated to educational equity through systemic change and continuous improvement. The ultimate goal is deep cultural transformation with a focus on community well-being and success. In addition to major initiatives, MFEI provides fiscal sponsorship to smaller projects and organizations with compatible missions, such as MAPS (Mentoring for Academic and Professional Success). MAPS is a nonprofit project dedicated to helping young adults who have lived experience in California’s foster care system who are applying for advanced degrees.

OPICA Adult Day and Counseling Center, Inc. – Los Angeles, CA.  Received a grant to support three staff members who supervise volunteers.  They presently serve over 200 people including their day program, Brain Train (early stage dementia), OZ (OPICA in Zoom) and individual and group counseling.

OPICA’s mission is to enable adults impaired by dementia to continue to live at home by 1.) Providing compassionate and stimulating day programs, 2.) Supporting family caregivers through counseling and respite and 3.) Increasing community understanding of memory disorders through education, resource referral and professional training.  OPICA received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in October 2020.

Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles (OBKLA) – Los Angeles, CA.  Received a grant to help pay the salary for their Volunteer & Program Coordinator who plays the key role in volunteer engagement and the delivery of services.  In total, they will serve 10,000 community volunteers and connect meals to 100,000 individuals and families experiencing food insecurity.

The mission of OBKLA is to combat hunger by providing meals, love, unity, and community. They are a community-run, industrial non-denominational kitchen that engages over 12,000 community volunteers to prepare and distribute restaurant-quality meals to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity in Los Angeles County.  By deploying an effective volunteer-driven service model, OBKLA addresses the problem of food insecurity in Los Angeles and builds change making communities dedicated to improving the world outside their kitchen.

Our Community L.A. (OCLA) – Los Angeles, CA.  Received a grant to support their College Student Housing Eligibility and Advocacy Program, which expands OCLA’s signature program, the What I Need (WIN) App, by adding an interactive survey/advocacy tool to improve the ability of youth countywide to qualify for HUD housing and connect to social supports.  More specifically, the grant would help to fund a part-time Campus Outreach Coordinator who develops promotional materials and activities that target college-age homeless youth and educate about the WIN Housing Tool.  They hope to serve over 120 students in the first year of this program.

OCLA’s mission is to leverage technology to connect youth, families, and adults experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity to essential resources that can help them make positive changes in their lives. They are committed to social justice and envision a world where no one will be hungry, unhoused, or in need of important supportive services simply because they do not know how to find help.

Salesian Family Youth Center – Los Angeles, CA.  Received a grant so they can continue to provide for today’s youth with their core programs: (1) We Care: an after-school program for children ages 5 to 12; (2) SHOUT (Striving to Heighten Outcomes by Uniting Teens): an after-school program for high school teens; 3) Camp Salesian: a full-day summer camp program for children (K to 8th grade); and 4) Youth Ministry: a youth leadership program in partnership with St. Mary’s Church to serve and empower the youth of Boyle Heights.  Last year, they served 2,020 disadvantaged youth.

The vision of the Salesian Family Youth Center is to offer high-quality youth development programs that provide academic support, educational enrichment, physical enrichment, and mentoring. Their mission is to enable the young people of Boyle Heights and surrounding communities to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens and to support their families in this effort.