By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–San Diego Foundation (SDF) announced that it has distributed a report detailing the impact of the San Diego Flood Response Fund that raised and granted $1.4 million for nonprofits serving flood survivors in the month following a 1,000-year storm and flooding on Jan. 22.
In addition to the San Diego Foundation’s $300,000 commitment to the San Diego Flood Response Fund, major funders include Price Philanthropies ($100,000), League of California Community Foundations Disaster Relief, Recovery and Resilience Fund ($100,000), The Conrad Prebys Foundation ($50,000), PNC Foundation ($50,000), Eugene M. and Joan F. Foster Family Charitable Fund at SDF ($50,000), California Health Care Foundation (Oakland, CA; $30,000), San Diego Padres Foundation ($25,000), San Diego Gas & Electric ($25,000), David C. Copley Foundation ($25,000), Verizon ($25,000), U.S. Bank ($25,000), Blue Shield of California ($25,000), The James Silberrad Brown Foundation at San Diego Foundation ($25,000) and the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego ($25,000).
“Together, more than 1,000 San Diegans quickly stepped up to support our neighbors in need through the San Diego Flood Response Fund,” said Mark Stuart, president and CEO of, the San Diego Foundation. “This is the power of the community coming together. There is much work to be done as we move toward recovery, and San Diego Foundation is here to support our region and its needs.”
Over 1,000 donors, including dozens of foundation fundholders, supported the San Diego Foundation San Diego Flood Response Fund. Thanks to their generosity, the foundation awarded 43 grants to 36 nonprofit partners that have provided more than 16,000 services to date to local flood survivors. These services included temporary housing, food security, basic needs, translation services case management support, and home repair and mitigation.
“When the devastating floods happened, it was an important moment for all of us to gather and support our communities as one,” said Pamela Gray Payton, San Diego Foundation vice president, and chief impact and partnerships officer. “SDF is here to help facilitate fundraising and depends on the nonprofit partners that are on the ground gaining the trust and supporting the community when they need it most.”
While many local nonprofit partners continue to support flood survivors, the San Diego Foundation has awarded a $200,000 grant to United Way of San Diego County to provide expanded learning services, such as after-school and summer programming, to students affected by the floods in southeastern San Diego.
United Way will prioritize services for the more than 250 K – 12 students and their families impacted by the January 2024 floods. The program will serve 30 – 40 students and their families at a time at Lincoln High School and the Jackie Robinson YMCA in southeastern San Diego. Nonprofit partners will deliver diverse and extraordinary programs focused on math, literacy and science, technology, engineering and mathematics, social-emotional learning, and career exposure and development.
