Our 2024 Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund’s 31st annual campaign raised and granted $646,000 to local nonprofits serving families and children. Almost 400 donations of all sizes from individuals, local foundations and family foundations, including many anonymous donations, and the proceeds from the annual Moonlight Run & Walk made it possible to make grants to 73 organizations.

A list of the grantees and donors are to the right, and articles written about previous grant recipients over the years are below. 

A unique feature of the Holiday Fund is that every dollar raised is given away each year in grants, with no administrative or marketing costs. The Weekly covers all the expenses and donates all the advertising. The program is a joint effort of the Embarcadero Media Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. A team of Palo Alto Weekly employees and retirees review and evaluate all the applications. 

It is a tribute to the caring people of the Midpeninsula that over $10 million has been raised and distributed over the history of the Holiday Fund — all of it to local nonprofits working hard to serve those most in need in the Palo Alto and East Palo Alto communities. It gives us great joy to connect donors with grantees so that so much good work can be done to make lives better.

Holiday Fund: The little studio that could

East Palo Alto’s first and only school of dance combines music and dance in a way that not only exposes children and families to Western culture’s “high art,” but also melds more traditional ethnic and cultural traditions.

The little studio that could

Giselle De los Santos performed as Cricket in the August 2023 production of Pinocchio. Mannakin Theater and Dance Company’s en Avant School of Dance, East Palo Alto. Photo by Bruce Fram. From plié and pirouette to carretilla and zapateado, the enchanting performance of this year’s “Nutcracker” by the students of Mannakin Theater and Dance Company’s…

Palo Alto Weekly launches annual Holiday Fund campaign with $800K goal

The Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund supports local nonprofit agencies like Bay Area Friendship Circle, which pairs children with special needs with teen volunteers to create inclusion and friendship. Here, children visit the Baylands Nature Preserve duck pond during a Friendship Circle family nature walk in Palo Alto in 2022. Photo by Emily Margaretten The…

Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund Grants for 2024

Acknowledge Alliance$5,000
Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet$10,000
Ada’s Cafe$20,000
Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS)$7,500
Art in Action$7,500
Aspire East Palo Alto Charter School$5,000
Beyond Barriers Athletic Foundation$5,000
Blossom Birth and Family$5,000
Canopy$5,000
CASA of San Mateo County$5,000
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto$7,500
Counseling and Support Services for Youth – CASSY$15,000
Downtown Streets Team$15,000
DreamCatchers$15,000
East Palo Alto Academy Foundation$7,500
East Palo Alto Community Archive $7,500
East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK)$15,000
Environmental Volunteers $7,500
EPACENTER$20,000
EPATT$20,000
Family Connections$7,500
Foundation for a College Education$15,000
Friends for Youth, Inc. $5,000
Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo$10,000
Hope Hangar$7,500
Hope Horizon East Palo Alto$7,500
Jasper Ridge Farm$5,000
Justice Vanguard$5,000
Kara$15,000
La Comida de California$5,000
Learning Home Volunteers$10,000
Marine Science Institute$5,000
Museum of American Heritage$5,000
Music in the Schools Foundation$7,500
New Voices for Youth (NV4Y)$5,000
Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto$10,000
Palo Alto Art Center Foundation$10,000
Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC) $20,000
Palo Alto Players$10,000
Peninsula Healthcare Connection$10,000
Peninsula Volunteers, Inc.$15,000
Peninsula Youth Theatre$5,000
Pursuit of Excellence Scholarships$20,000
Ravenswood Classroom Partners$15,000
Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT)$5,000
Rich May Foundation$5,000
RISE – Reaching and Inspiring Success through Education$5,500
Rise Together Education$10,000
Rosalie Rendu Inc.$5,000
Sager Family Farm$5,000
Science is Elementary$5,000
Silicon Valley Urban Debate League$7,500
The Circuit EPA$10,000
The Fit Kids Foundation$5,000
The Peninsula College Fund$7,500
The Riekes Center$5,000
The Trust for Hidden Villa$7,500
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley$7,500
UNAFF (United Natiosn Association Film Festival)$7,500
Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired$7,500
WeHOPE$15,000
YMCA East Palo Alto Family YMCA$5,000
Youth Community Service $20,000
CHILD CARE ORGANIZATIONS
All Five$7,500
Children’s Center of the Stanford Community$5,000
Covenant Children’s Center$7,500
Grace Lutheran Preschool$7,500
Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC) $7,500
Palo Alto Friends Nursery School$7,500
Parents Nursery School $7,500
The Learning Center of Palo Alto, Inc.$7,500