The Outdoor Art Club, one of Mill Valley’s oldest and historically important nonprofit organizations, has unveiled its annual list of Outreach Grant recipients, and once again it’s supporting a laundry list of discrete projects within Marin that further the Club’s purposes.
The projects listed below needed to fit with the OAC’s purpose of being “dedicated to the protection and beautification of outdoor spaces, wildlife conservation, and other civic, literary, and charitable work.” They span 14 local organizations garnering $75,000 in grants.
The Outdoor Art Club, founded in 1902, is a nonprofit organization in Mill Valley dedicated to the protection and beautification of outdoor spaces, wildlife conservation, and other civic, literary, and charitable work. Each year, it awards grants to other local nonprofits to support discrete projects within Marin County that further the Club’s purposes.
This year, the Club’s grants went to the following recipients for the following projects:
Call of the Sea – Scholarship support for three classrooms from underserved schools to take a three-hour educational sail in San Francisco Bay. Educational content covers areas such as Marin Biology, Sustainability and Nautical Science.
Center for Domestic Peace – Fund In This Together therapy program for children who have witnessed domestic abuse. About 60 non-abusing parents with 100 children will participate in parent & child therapy sessions thus helping to alleviate long-term impacts to their health.
The Curtain Theatre – Costume rentals for free-to-the-public performances of the 2024 productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Old Mill Park.
Dance Arts – Dance classes, including ballet, ballroom, Latin and contemporary, for 60 youth and young adults in the Canal District of San Rafael.
ExtraFood – Recruiting and onboarding of 40 new farmers market volunteers, 5 new farmers market team leaders and 20 new kitchen volunteers thus preventing excess fresh and edible food from being thrown into the landfill and the resulting production of CO2 from warming our atmosphere. Expansion of SouperFood Kitchen’s capacity.
Marin BeeKeepers Association – Education of 350-400 5th graders across Marin on the importance of the honey bee and their role in pollination. Students will have hands-on experience with hives at their schools. Bee suits will be provided.
Marin Community Clinics – The purchase of two filtered water fountains / bottling stations for the lobbies of the Fourth Street Dental Clinic in San Rafael.
Marin Villages – Significant subsidy for 16 elderly women to have a Marin Villages membership, helping to enable independent living.
The Mountain Play – ASL translation for hearing-impaired attendees at a 2024 Mountain Play performance of Kinky Boots.
NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Health) – Training of two Family-to-Family teachers who are Spanish-speaking, stipends for Family Support Group Facilitators for Marin City and The Canal District, and growing the Help line to include a Spanish-speaking Help Line responder.
Project Avary – Scholarships for 7 Marin County children of incarcerated parents to attend intensive four-week therapeutic and leadership development summer camp.
Vivalon – Delivery of over 1,400 adult meals and 2,000 pet meals to at-risk seniors in Marin County.
Welcoming Home – Apartment furnishings for a formerly unhoused family of three including movers; brand new mattresses, box springs and bed frames; and a home starter kit.
Wildcare – Three three-month wildlife hospital internships for veterinary students.