Country life in Pescadero can often feel like a whole other planet next to the fast-paced life of Silicon Valley, burnished with wealth and buzzing with ambition. Yet many Silicon Valley residents and workers are among Puente’s most loyal and cherished donors. And the Silicon Valley Community Foundation itself has been a faithful and constant source of support from Puente’s earliest days.
Even with those relationships, nothing could have prepared Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel for the email she received last month, informing her that an anonymous donor had awarded Puente a $35,000 matching grant through Silicon Valley Gives, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s unique regional giving campaign.
On May 6, Puente will have an opportunity to earn a dollar-for-dollar match on that $35,000 by asking donors to participate in Giving Day, a remarkable one-day donation bonanza that is intended to benefit every nonprofit in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. On May 6, Silicon Valley Gives (and hundreds of Silicon Valley volunteers) will rally thousands of donors to give to their favorite causes. The event will likely raise millions of dollars in donations, and has already prompted a flurry of preparations from nonprofits that see an unprecedented opportunity to tell their stories to a wider audience.
“It’s a huge gift and a huge opportunity. Now there’s a lot at stake,” says Lobel.
Puente is part of an extraordinary company of groups to have received special recognition ahead of May 6. The anonymous donor who gave the matching grant to Puente committed a total of $1.1 million to some two dozen nonprofits, many of them focused on health and education.
“The donor is somebody who believes in Puente’s mission and has watched Puente and knows the good work you do on behalf of low-income families and farm workers in the Coastside community,” says Jennifer Kane, Senior Philanthropy Advisor with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Donations to Puente’s Silicon Valley dollar-for-dollar campaign only count if they are given through this website between 12:01 a.m. and midnight Pacific Time on Tuesday, May 6. Donors can also schedule gifts in advance by clicking here.
