A Poway couple are in the process of creating a Poway Community Foundation under the San Diego Foundation’s umbrella to raise funds for nonprofits in the city.
Ginger Couvrette, a Poway Unified School District trustee, and her husband, John, chief financial officer of the Poway Chamber of Commerce, said they have been working on the foundation since April. They said they hope to be on solid footing this fall when they can create a board of directors for the organization.
“We will start small,” said Ginger Couvrette, who has served five years on the school board. “People give of their time, talent or treasure and those who don’t have time might be willing to write a check for people who are willing to give their time to do great things in the community.”
The Couvrettes said they are in the midst of acquiring founders who can contribute at least $5,000 and members who can join for a minimum of $1,000.
The Poway Community Foundation would be patterned after the San Diego Foundation, which has awarded $1.6 billion in grants to nonprofits since 1975, according to its website. The organization’s mission is to “inspire enduring philanthropy and enable community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.”
Trudy Armstrong, director of regional outreach for the San Diego Foundation, said the foundation can help advise and mentor Poway Community Foundation organizers. But, she said, the money would be raised within the community by Poway residents or people who care about Poway.
Trudy Armstrong, director of regional outreach for the San Diego Foundation, said she will help and mentor Poway Community Foundation organizers.
(Elizabeth Marie Himchak)
“It will be up to the members of the community to raise those funds for their struggling neighbors and nonprofits,” said Armstrong, who has worked with the foundation for 15 years. “We help manage the money and we do backend support for their grantmaking.”
Other communities that have foundations include Rancho Bernardo, Ramona, Escondido, Chula Vista and Carlsbad, she said.
Philanthropy is needed to help people due to COVID, wildfires and day-to-day food and housing necessities, senior care and education, Armstrong said.
“Food insecurity is one of the largest things we deal with,” she said. “Sadly, homelessness is in all of our communities. Sometimes people don’t see it, but it is definitely there.”
The goal for the Poway Community Foundation in its first year is to raise “significant funds” for nonprofits, Ginger Couvrette said. Much of the fundraising will be initiated by connecting with community groups and special interest groups such as golfers and garden club members to establish a network for collecting donations, she said.
“It’s a lot of work to stand it up, but fortunately, we have a wonderful mentorship with the San Diego Foundation,” Couvrette said. “The San Diego Foundation gives grants all over the county, including the Poway area, but our funds would go directly to our constituents.”
Couvrette said there are many opportunities for giving grants in Poway. The Poway Chamber of Commerce has 55 nonprofit members alone, she said. And the Poway school district oversees 35,000 students, some with special needs, some English language learners and others who are homeless or food insecure, she said.
“People don’t realize we have homeless kids and families,” Couvrette said. “You don’t think of that in Poway. So there’s a need here, there really is. If we can help these people I think it’s very exciting.”
Couvrette said the inspiration for establishing a Poway Community Foundation partially came from her experiences attending the Rancho Bernardo Foundation’s annual Thanksgiving luncheon. That organization provides grants to the YMCA, schools, special needs organizations and senior groups, she said.
The family also thought the timing was right, with the youngest of three children away at college and John Couvrette leaving his traveling job to focus on the foundation. The couple also have business experience as owners of Halcyon, a Poway-based real estate brokerage and property management company that has 17 agents and manages about 200 properties.
Aside from his role as chief financial officer of the Poway Chamber, John Couvrette is chairman of the Chamber’s Nonprofit Committee.
“We feel like it’s the right time,” said Ginger Couvrette, who has lived in Poway with her family for 27 years. “We have the energy. We really like to do good things. We’re proud of Poway and it seems like it will be a really exciting and positive project.”
The Couvrettes met with Sue Herndon, a Poway resident since 1977, to discuss creating the foundation.
Herndon had explored the idea of forming a Poway Community Foundation several years ago, but mainly due to COVID, the idea petered out. Herndon said she was inspired as a founding member of the Rancho Bernardo Community Foundation and went so far as to gather a group of Poway residents and community leaders for a think tank.
Now she plans to assist the Couvrettes in an advisory capacity.
“It’s an opportunity for those who have a philanthropic desire, and have the funds to follow that desire, to give a lot of money,” Herndon said. “It also gives the opportunity for someone on a Social Security budget who wants to give back to their community the same opportunity. The purpose is to support nonprofits that benefit the citizens of Poway and the community and the city.”
So far, Poway Community Foundation organizers have received thousands of dollars in pledges, Ginger Couvrette said.
“The foundation is going to be a neat opportunity,” she said. “There’s a number of people who are able to give a bit. If they’re too busy to volunteer, they can donate and make a big difference.”
If for some reason the Poway Community Foundation does not succeed, Couvrette said the accumulated funds would be forwarded to the San Diego Foundation with a preference for distributing the money in the 92064 Zip code area.
For more information or to donate, call the Couvrettes at 858-243-5304.
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