On Tuesday, June 7, 2016 CommunityGrows staff Barbara Wenger, Melissa Tang and Cha’Shay Woldridge joined Advisory Board members Leah Cerri and Abby Miller at Stanford University to receive a $20,000.00 grant through the University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.
The university offers a class “Theories of Civil Society, Philanthropy, and the Nonprofit Sector” taught by Dr. Bruce Sievers. The class is in receipt of funding from The Once Upon a Time Foundation, a philanthropic foundation promoting the values and practices of philanthropy.
In common with similar programs operating in universities throughout the country, the class and the associated funding enable students to learn about philanthropy through hands-on grant-making, distributing funds to Bay Area nonprofit organizations in their chosen field.
Students in the class divided into four teams. One team composed of students Celinda Sandoval, Jamie Stark and Montana Morgan, here with Professor Sievers, 
choose to focus on an environmental priority. They were particularly concerned with empowering low-income communities to build sustainable food systems. Their goal was to select a nonprofit which fosters a generation that has a deeper appreciation of food and its impact on the environment. The team invited a select group of nonprofits to apply.
CommunityGrows submitted a general operating proposal that supported our three interconnected youth programs. Together, the programs provide a continuum of environmental, garden, and nutrition education, job readiness, and leadership development opportunities for low-income and underserved youth ages 5-19.
It was wonderful to be part of this celebration with other nonprofits, including Youth Radio, Operation Access and Causa Justa::Just Cause and the National Center for Youth Law.
The CommunityGrows staff celebrated afterwards with lunch at the Left Bank Restaurant in Menlo Park before heading back to San Francisco! Great honor and celebration! Thank you!