February 27, 2007 > Celebrate Fremont Announces Community Grants Celebrate Fremont Announces Community Grants Funds Remaining from Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration to Be Used for Community Benefit Celebrate Fremont, the community-based planning organization for Fremont's 50th anniversary celebration, announced today that after the expenses of the celebration are paid, there will be enough funds remaining to give several modest grants to various non-profit community-benefit organizations in Fremont. The total amount to be distributed is $25,000. "This is really a testament to two things," says volunteer Celebrate Fremont chair Irene Koehler. "One was the unparalleled generosity of our sponsors, big and small, who made both monetary and in-kind donations. Many of the expenses that would normally have been incurred were either eliminated or reduced significantly by businesses who wanted very much to support the vision of celebrating by building community. The second was the value of community volunteers and networking. For many roles, it was recommended that we hire and pay professionals, but we were able to find people who had the talent and background needed and who were willing to donate their time. If not for the talent and enthusiasm we were able to harness, it would have been much more costly to carry out our vision, and we wouldn't have been able to take on and accomplish as many worthwhile projects." "Collectively, our community was able to pull off a celebration that wildly exceeded expectations," adds Fremont mayor Bob Wasserman. "At first it seemed that City budget constraints would prevent us from celebrating the 50th anniversary as it deserved. The upshot, however, was that the community took on the challenge and accomplished this even more successfully than we could have envisioned. The Celebrate Fremont experience has been phenomenal for all who were involved, whether it was in the planning process or as a participant in one of the anniversary events. I have never felt so proud to be a part of Fremont as in our year of celebration." The statement of vision for Celebrate Fremont was to create a legacy for tomorrow by cherishing our past and connecting with our present. The support and active involvement of individuals, organizations, and businesses produced not only last September's major anniversary event, Celebrate Fremont @ the Park, but also a series of lectures, contests, exhibits, tours, and smaller commemorative events that took place throughout the year. "We 'cherished our past' by creating a succession of historical events and activities during the year," points out Suzanne Chan, Celebrate Fremont vice chair. "We 'connected with the present' by celebrating who we are as a community, learning about each other, creating new partnerships, and forging new relationships. Part of 'leaving a legacy for the future' is these new relationships, and another aspect of the legacy is the grants to community groups." "The genesis of Celebrate Fremont was the community," observes Dominic Dutra, Celebrate Fremont Steering Committee member and former Fremont City Council member. "The ideas, the passion and the heart of Celebrate Fremont all came from this dynamic, diverse, and engaged community. It is only fitting that as we dissolve the Celebrate Fremont organization, we come full circle and donate the remaining funds to a number of the many non-profit organizations doing important work every day for the benefit of the Fremont community." The teams that composed the Celebrate Fremont organization evaluated possible recipients for the grants, employing criteria that included willingness to commit to a project in the 2007 calendar year that would benefit Fremont residents and status as a Fremont "community benefit" 510 (c) 3 non-profit that had been in operation for at least three years. Following is a summary of the grants: Organization Amount Project Fremont Education Foundation $1,000 After-school sports programs in the elementary schools Mission Peak Heritage Foundation/Shinn House $1,000 Install lighting equipment to enhance safety during evening programs Museum of Local History $1,000 Improve and develop exhibits chronicling Fremont's first 50 years Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum $1,000 Transport Essanay films, previously believed lost, from the Netherlands to add to museum's collection Pacific Bus Museum $1,000 Maintain Niles Coach Lines historic bus, which is used as a shuttle for Niles Canyon Railway Wes Gordon Fossil Hall at Math Science Nucleus $1,000 Purchase graphic prints depicting Fremont during the Ice Age to be added to the exhibit Tri-City Homeless Coalition $2,000 Augment children's program at Sunrise Village shelter Kidango $2,500 Acquire equipment and supplies to enhance children's literacy, math and social-emotional development StarStruck Theater $2,500 Establish scholarship fund to cover tuition costs Fremont Education Foundation $3,000 Purchase student video material to support FUSD's priority of supporting safe schools Fremont Cultural Arts Council $4,000 Organize free summer concerts in Central Park CA-NV District Exchange Club Charitable Foundation $5,000 Provide early sponsorship for Fremont 4th of July parade 2007 About Celebrate Fremont Celebrate Fremont is a dynamic, inclusive, grassroots volunteer organization that planned and carried out the celebration of Fremont's 50th anniversary. It formed and began planning in January 2005 with public meetings held at Fremont Main Library that were attended by hundreds of residents. A steering committee and a complex of teams and sub-committees formed and met regularly. Based on ideas originally generated by the community, plans for celebrating the city's 50th anniversary were designed to build and strengthen relationships between and among individuals, community groups, the City of Fremont, and the local business community. The admission-free signature event, "Celebrate Fremont @ the Park," took place September 9-10, 2006 in Fremont's Central Park. Major sponsors who provided funding for the celebration were: Diamond Sponsors-$50,000 Ardenbrook, Inc. Fremont Bank ProLogis Santa Clara Development SummerHill Homes Dale Hardware Platinum Sponsors-$25,000 Cal Coast Financial The Saddle Rack Washington Hospital Gold Sponsors-$10,000 ASI Corporation ASUS Computer International AT&T Atwal Real Estate Investments Balch Enterprises Beretta Property Management Charter Properties City of Fremont Dutra Enterprises Inc. Fremont Automall The Globe Gonsalves & Kozachenko The Glenmoor Companies Hewlett Packard Kaiser Permanente Men's Wearhouse The Mission Peak Company MURCO Management New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) Palo Alto Medical Foundation Pan Pacific Bank Regis Homes of Northern California Riding Group LLC Synnex Warm Springs Station LLC Silver Sponsors-$5,000 Frisbie Planning Company Sisters of the Holy Family Sobrato Development Companies Townsend Management, Inc. ?? ?? ?? ??