Grants

The Rob Benzon Foundation has again answered the call to assist with costs of the annual Scott Carlson/ Dan Ferbal Community Thanksgiving Dinner held at the San Diego LGBT Community Center on Thanksgiving Day. Started in 1988 by Scott Carlson as a dinner for HIV/AIDS patients, and later also named after our late board president, Dan Ferbal, in 2020, the tradition of giving continues to provide a hot Thanksgiving meal for those in need in our community on the day we earmark to give thanks. The dinner now includes people with cancer and other ailments, homeless people, and anyone needing a safe and inviting place to come together as a community on this holiday. More than 500 individuals benefited from this year’s dinner.

Grant made in November 2020

Our foundation worked with local chef and RBF supporter, Shawn Sei, by allowing our foundation to pay for meals over several weeks for him to prepare and then give away to those in need during the pandemic. This way, we helped Shawn’s catering business when work was scarce during the pandemic, and we were able to feed hundreds of hungry citizens in need within the San Diego Community. The meals were prepared by Shawn Sei and then delivered through Jewish Family Services on September 7, 2020, September 14, 2020, September 21, 2020, and November 16, 2020.

Grant was made August 2020

The Foundation was able to support Camp Erin in partnership with the Center for Compassionate Care of the Elizabeth Hospice and part of network of free bereavement camps for children and teens ages 6 to 17 years of age who have experienced the death of someone close to them. Camp Erin’s counselors run specially designed activities to assist these children with the bereavement process and this grant provided funds for grief journals for the kids attending the camp. A second grant was also approved to supply all of the kids and volunteers attending the camp with much needed event-themed T-shirts.

Grants were made in July 2020

Lakesha was suffering from a debilitating illness during which she was unable to work. She was not only out of money for food, but she was also going to lose her apartment and become homeless when she reached out to our foundation. We provided several months of rental assistance and a food gift card. Because of the help from our foundation, she was able to recover from her illness remaining in her apartment and had food during this time as well.

Grant was made June 2020

Hannah’s House is a non-profit organization, that since 1988, has served over 23,000 families. They have provided over 268,000 hours of warm and peaceful child-parent supervised family time. In 2016, Hannah’s House made the transition to electronic note taking. Most of their older laptops were outdated and were in desperate need of replacement. The Rob Benzon Foundation answered their call and approved a grant for 8 new Chromebooks for their inventory.

Grant was made May 2020

The Rob Benzon Foundation awarded two scholarships through the annual PFLAG Scholarship Awards to two LGBTQ students pursuing higher education. The Rob Benzon Memorial Scholarship was awarded to G Trupp who was honored to win and said, “I look forward to being able to pay it forward.”

The first ever, Daniel J. Ferbal Memorial Scholarship was awarded this year in honor of our beloved past RBF President and dear friend, Dan. Patrick Loehr was the much-deserved recipient. Patrick said that was honored to receive the award. He said, “This support means a lot to me, it’s tremendously and sincerely appreciated.” Patrick’s goal is to achieve great things in Dan’s name.

Grant was made March 2020

Carlitos D. was a cancer survivor with many other health ailments including diabetes, renal failure, a recent heart attack as well as being septic. His huge health hurdles made it impossible to work and the out of pocket costs not covered by insurance were tremendous. he and his family got behind on their household bills. Our foundation provided financial assistance for their phone bill, and utility bills in order to avoid disconnection.

Grant was made March 2020

Being Alive San Diego was granted $1000 for their food pantry “Daniel’s Market” which provides groceries each month for 1,000 needy individuals affected with HIV/AIDS in San Diego. “Daniel’s Market” is a farmer’s market style food distribution that restores not only their client’s ability to get enough to eat but, as Shannon Wagner, BASD Executive Director put it, “It also restores their HOPE.” She went on to say, “Our clients that are affected by HIV/AIDS are also seniors, working poor, families and most importantly; our family, friends and neighbors.”

Grant made February 2020

We have received and paid an emergency grant request from Kerrie and her wife Karen. Karen has had some profoundly serious medical issues and was not able to work. She eventually lost her job due to these issues. It is sad and ironic that they found themselves suddenly in a position desperately needing financial assistance. They lived their lives constantly assisting the San Diego LGBTQ community. In fact, they only recently were honored by San Diego civic leaders for their years helping raise money for those in need. It was an honor for our foundation to be able to give back to this wonderful and generous couple when they were the ones needing help. We gave them rental assistance for two months and paid an overdue phone bill to avoid disconnection.

Grant made February 2020

Eugene was a 24 year old gay man who was in his senior year at Cal State University-San Marcos. He was scheduled to graduate with a degree in May in Business Administration. Unfortunately, his grandmother died unexpectedly at the age of 77 leaving him without any family support or financial support. She had raised him since he was five years old and he had no other family to whom he could turn. The Rob Benzon Foundation approved a grant to pay his past due rent, cover a small tuition bill so he could get his degree and we bought him some much appreciated groceries.

Grant made December 2019