The CIELO Fund through the Inland Empire Community Foundation continues to spark positive change in the region. A recent CIELO (Cultivating Inland Empire Latino Opportunity) grant was distributed to Rotary Club of Coachella East, which organizers say was a “great help.”
“Our focus as a Rotary Club is to strengthen education and workforce pathways for students in the Eastern Coachella Valley, and the grant will be a great asset for that,” said Lorena Gomez, treasurer of the nonprofit organization. “A lot of the students are first-generation graduates, and our goal is to try and fill some gaps. We want to offer support to young adults to further their education, and then they can consider returning to the valley and give back to the community.”
Gomez said the Rotary Club of Coachella East has long been active and dedicated to assisting underserved community members through a number of measures — from supporting youth development to improving neighborhoods in the east Coachella Valley.
Club members often collaborate with local businesses and educators to fund student scholarships, organize community cleanups and host career programs.
“I’m originally from the eastern Coachella Valley,” she said. “My father was a farm worker. I was a farm worker. So, this kind of hits home — raising funds to support and further education for first-time graduates, like myself and my sister, and just seeing parents and students not have to worry about where they’re going to get the money to either buy a computer for school or how to put gas in their car.”
Some of the organization’s key initiatives and activities include Youth Leadership and Development, which can involve sponsoring local high school students to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and participate in high school mock interview programs that in turn establish some career readiness.
Community improvement is also part of the mix. Here, members help organize neighborhood yard and debris cleanups for elderly residents. Enhancing local public spaces falls into these efforts as well.
Educational support has become a significant measure. To that end, the Rotary Club provides financial assistance and scholarships for select students pursuing higher education.
Community alliances are vital, Gomez said, touching on the importance of partnering with regional leaders and other organizations like the Boys & Girls Club and local districts to launch service projects.
“We’re a volunteer-based organization — we belong to Rotary International,” she said. “It’s a global nonprofit service organization, and it’s made up of a lot of local community clubs, whose members volunteer their time, their leadership and their resources to help improve communities, locally and around the world.
“We focus a lot on community service, leadership and scholarships and supporting education and literacy,” she said. “There are other rotaries that also fight hunger and poverty, disease prevention and health initiatives. Basically, our motto is just ‘service above selves.’ Which means that we put others and the needs and the community first through volunteering, leadership and giving back.”
Looking ahead, this summer the nonprofit wants to partner with local businesses to try to end hunger.
“A lot of kids, when they don’t go to school, don’t have any or enough food,” Gomez said. “We want to partner with local nonprofits to help fill the gap, giving them resources to find regional food banks and distribution centers so that they have food, fresh vegetables and fruits.”
These are great strides and yet another way The CIELO Fund helps make an impact to uplift and invest in Latino-led and Latino-serving organizations across Riverside and San Bernardino counties. To date, the fund has successfully raised more than $3 million to support the area’s Latino majority.
Learn more at coachellaeastrotary.com.
The Inland Empire Community Foundation works to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy. To learn how you can invest your charitable gifts in the causes you care about, visit iegives.org or contact IECF’s Charitable Giving Team at giving@iegives.org.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Grant helps Rotary Club strengthen education efforts
Reporting by Greg Archer, Inland Empire Community Foundation / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Greg Archer, Inland Empire Community Foundation | USA TODAY Network
