Welcome to year two of The Power of Community. Just as we did last season, every week we will identify and spotlight someone in our community who is making a difference through their unselfish involvement with a nonprofit: those who have stepped up by volunteering their time and talent to help others in the Coachella Valley.
Currently, there are more than 1,000 nonprofits in the valley. Each of these philanthropic organizations is powered by people. Powered by a passion to make life healthier, safer, better for those in need. We want to celebrate and help these locals and their missions.
Thanks to the generosity of The Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, last year we awarded 42 $1,000 grants to local nonprofits. And just like last year, the charitable organizations receiving the grant each week will be identified and singled out by their exemplary commitment and dedication to our valley.
This generous outreach has been provided by The Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation because Schnitzer, a businessman and philanthropist, is a part-time desert resident who has had a lifelong commitment to helping others. He feels very connected to our community because he’s been visiting the desert since he was a young boy. His parents loved the Coachella Valley and visited often from their home in Portland, Oregon, contributing greatly to our desert’s development over the years, thanks to their generous philanthropy.
Full disclosure: Schnitzer and I are lifelong friends. We grew up blocks apart from each other, so I can personally attest to his extraordinary generosity and magnanimous spirit.
If you know the Schnitzer family at all, you know they have made it their mission to make the world a better place. Whether it’s helping home the unhoused, inspiring through the enlightenment of the arts or encouraging young people by mentoring, Schnitzer and his family have proven for decades that they are committed to helping those in need. This generous outreach is one way they can help many different organizations in our community. Schnitzer knows it’s the people behind the missions that power the nonprofits to help so many.
“The heart and soul of every community are the nonprofits,” Schnitzer says. “They have exciting programs that bring art, music, dance and culture into our lives, and also have programs that reach out to all those that need a helping hand to help make their lives better. Every community must support its nonprofits.”
We look forward to another year of Giving. We are so happy to once again spotlight deserving men and women of service and the important nonprofits they serve each week.
Please join us in this journey of gratitude as we celebrate those who do so much for so many in our valley. Welcome to year two sharing the Power of Community!
Sandie Newton is an award-winning broadcast journalist who began her career in Los Angeles as cohost of the nationally syndicated show “PM Magazine.” She went on to host many local and national shows like “Hollywood Insider” before becoming one of the original anchors for E! and a regular on Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family.” In 2017, she moved to the desert, creating and hosting NBCares for six years. She is currently the host of “Desert Chat,” a half-hour lifestyle show spotlighting all the good people, events and news in the Coachella Valley. Watch it Sundays at 6:30 p.m. on KESQ, at 10:30 p.m. on FOX 11 and noon Mondays on CW5.
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