It all started at the lively Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture’s sell-out Awards Dinner and Auction.
In support of the Chamber’s live auction fundraiser, Santa Cruz County Bank was the highest bidder on the “Summer of Fun,” gift package of items generously donated by the best of Pajaro Valley’s businesses, which included: “A Feast from the Pajaro Valley” of fine foods donated by Watsonville Coast Produce, Freedom Meat Lockers, California Giant Berries, Martinelli’s, Monterey Mushrooms, a gas grill courtesy of Renee Mello of KW Real Estate and propane with refills from Amerigas. And then, something else happened — Santa Cruz County Bank then donated the item to Teen Kitchen Project.
Teen Kitchen Project is a nonprofit organization that brings young people into the kitchen to learn to cook nutritious food, which is then delivered to individuals and families in our community who are in crisis due to a life-threatening illness, such as cancer. Since 2012, they have served over 63,000 meals to families in crisis and teens have donated over 3,000 service hours. For more details, go to www.teenkitchenproject.org.
Angela Farley, Executive Director of Teen Kitchen Project remarked, “We are absolutely thrilled with this donation and it is so valuable in helping us serve our mission. We currently serve 400 meals a week. Santa Cruz County Bank’s generous gift will enable us to serve a greater number of nutritious meals to families who are going through very difficult times.”
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Shaz Roth, President and CEO of the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture commented, “We absolutely love the domino effect of this gift that keeps on giving. First, all of the donations made by local businesses helped support the Chamber, then Santa Cruz County Bank bought the auction item at our fundraiser, and then the Bank turned around and donated the gift to a local non-profit organization. This is a complete trifecta!”