MODELS AND MENTORS HONORED AT SONOMA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION HOLIDAY TEA

Donors, grantees, community leaders recognized for outstanding contributions

For Immediate Release

Contact: Gloria Duncan 707/579-4073

Santa Rosa, CA — December 13, 2002     Five Sonoma County nonprofit organizations and eight individuals were honored by Community Foundation Sonoma County at the third annual Models and Mentors Holiday Tea held recently at the new Sheraton Petaluma Hotel at the Marina.

“Special recognition was given to former Community Foundation board member and community leader, Dante Benedetti, Petaluma, president of Clover-Stornetta Farms.

" Models and Mentors is a way of bringing people and organizations together and it is one way that we carry out our mission of matching philanthropic interests with community needs, " said Kay M. Marquet, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. "It is an opportunity for donors to learn about how their generosity is helping nonprofit organizations to carry out their important work, for grantee organizations to meet donors and for everyone to hear about the valuable work being done in our community by some very dedicated and committed people."
Honored for steadfast commitment were Circuit Rider Productions, Inc., represented by Wes Winter, former executive director who was recently named to head the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County; former board member and long-time member and former chairman of the Community Foundation's Investment Advisory Committee, Irwin Rothenberg, principal, Zenith Capitol Wealth Management; and housing advocate Margo Warnecke Merck, Healdsburg, a founding member of the Housing Advocacy Group and president of the Community Housing Development Corporation of Santa Rosa. Merck was honored as a role model for her long-time commitment to the housing issue.

Recognized for innovation were Petaluma's Committee on the Shelterless (COTS), headed by John Records; Bruce Dzieza, Sebastopol, of Willow Creek Financial Services and a member of the Community Foundation's Professionals Advisory Committee, for his efforts in bringing together a group of charitably-minded clients to discuss ways to help their community; and Nancy Dougherty, Sebastopol, for her leadership in creating the Teen Counseling Project.

The Community Child Care Council, represented by executive director Marinell Eva was honored for community partnering and their role in helping incubate the Raising a Reader program. Also honored for community partnering were the directors of two new nonprofit organizations resulting from a five-year grant from The James Irvine Foundation's Community Foundations Initiative to the Community Foundation which funded the Resilient Communities Initiative: Julie Zak, Boyes Hot Springs, director of the Springs Unity Partnership and Laurie Siebenthall, Cloverdale, executive director of the Cloverdale Community Partnership. Jim Brecht, a partner in Simons Brecht Development and a visionary leader who helped create the idea of the Food and Wine Center, was honored posthumously for his community partnering. His widow, Vicki, received his award.

Each of the nonprofit organizations received a $500 grant to support their volunteer activities.

Since it was established in 1983 to create an ongoing source of funds for local charitable organizations, the Community Foundation has distributed more than $46 million in grants from over 180 different funds. One of more than 600 community foundations in the United States, which have long been leaders in the donor-advised field, the Community Foundation is a vehicle for community philanthropy that enables individuals of both modest means and substantial wealth to contribute to a permanent endowment for Sonoma County. For information, call 707-579-4073 or visit www.sonomacf.org.
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