The Champions Volunteer Foundation
Preselected recipients only
The Champions Volunteer Foundation is a private foundation in La Quinta, California. In tax year 2024 it gave $651,000 in 51 grants; the typical grant was $9,000 and the largest $100,000. It only gives to organizations it selects itself and does not accept unsolicited applications.
From its IRS Form 990-PF for tax year 2024.
- Grants paid, 2024$651,000
- Number of grants51
- Typical grant$9,000
- Largest grant$100,000
- Assets$374,085
- New grantees18%
Giving in 2024 was up from $267,500 the year before.
18% of its 2024 grantees had not received a grant from it the year before, a mix of repeat and new grantees.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants paid | Number of grants | Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $267,500 | 56 | $412,828 |
| 2024 | $651,000 | 51 | $374,085 |
How to apply
The Champions Volunteer Foundation says in its IRS filing that it only makes contributions to preselected organizations, so unsolicited applications are unlikely to be considered. Organizations it funds are usually invited.
Foundation website IRS filings on ProPublica
What The Champions Volunteer Foundation funds
Where it gives
Its grants went to recipients in 2 states, the most to California.
| State | Grants | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| California | 50 | $645,000 |
| Maryland | 1 | $6,000 |
Grants paid in 2024
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Riverside County Deputy Sheriff's Relief Foundation | To provide assistance to benefit the families of deputy sheriffs and other law-enforcement and public-safety officers who have been killed, injured or otherwise in crisis situations. | $100,000 |
| Riverside County Professional Firefighter's Benevolent Fund | The goal of the riverside county professional firefighters benevolent fund is to be able to support those firefighters in their time of need. | $100,000 |
| Armed Services YMCA 29 Palms - 2010 | To enhance the lives of military members and their families in spirit, mind, and body through programs relevant to the unique challenges of military life. | $40,000 |
| Shelter From the Storm | To support our community counseling center therapeutic and case management program, which provides individual, one-to-one case management and counseling sessions in both english and spanish to victims of intimate partner domestic violence who are not in need of shelter program services, but seeking help, and can greatly benefit from individual and group sessions. | $25,000 |
| Joshua Tree National Park Association | Joshua tree national park to help in its achievement of programming goals in education and interpretation, along with scientific and historical research and activities. | $20,000 |
| Martha's Village and Kitchen | To support the family shelter program operations (staff salaries, rent, utilities, insurance, building maintenance, supplies) and other necessary expenses that provide emergency housing, education, and child-care to homeless and impoverished youth. | $20,000 |
| Coachella Valley Mounted Rangers | To care for and find homes for horses and visit local schools and offer students opportunity to care for horses. | $18,000 |
| Family YMCA of the Desert | To provide students the financial assistance to participate in the youth & government program; i.e., 9 nights in hotels, charter busses to and from fresno (twice), flights to sacramento & program fees that are paid directly to the statewide y&g program. | $15,000 |
| Find Food Bank | To support our "mobile pantry program" that reaches isolated communities where no partner agencies are available to offer emergency food-assistance. Find currently deploys 22 mobile pantries throughout our service area. In 2019-20, find's mobile pantries will complete a total of 272 food distributions to low-income individuals and families. | $15,000 |
| Assistance League of Coachellla Valley | Fund operation school bell to provide school clothing for children in need in the coachella valley. | $10,000 |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert | To support the "littles to college" project, which through one-on-one mentoring, guides low-income and/or single parent high school students through options for continuing education, ensuring that all children in our program graduate from high school and go on to some form of higher education, community college, music/drama academics, trade/tech school, job corps, peace corps, military, universities, art schools, etc. | $10,000 |
| Children's Services of the Desert | To fund speech, language and social skills therapy, parent training, and attending school meetings: (1) to help families get appropriate services, and (2) to help families understand their services when needed. | $10,000 |
| Coachella Valley Rescue Mission | Support the ongoing operations of cvrm's emergency food & shelter program which serves the homeless and otherwise underserved and impoverished men, women, and children arriving from all over the coachella valley. | $10,000 |
| Coachella Valley Youth Golf Foundation | First tee is a youth development organization introducing the game of golf and its inherent values to young people. | $10,000 |
| College of the Desert Foundation | The organization that enhance the quality of education by advancing the college of the desert through building relationships, securing philanthropic support and stewarding assets. | $10,000 |
| Desert Cancer Foundation | The organization that help anyone in the coachella valley and surrounding communities with a cancer diagnosis that does not have the funds to pay for their cancer care. | $10,000 |
| Fenixia Foundation Inc | To helping special needs adults, children and their families thrive by providing care, offering resources, and bringing joy to this community to improve their mental health. | $10,000 |
| Friends of the Palm Springs Animal Shelter | As the only open admissions municipal shelter operating under the no kill philosophy, we need critical funds to provide homeless animals with lifesaving care, nutrition, medical and surgical supplies necessary to meet the needs of the increased number of stray, abused, and surrendered pets preparing them for adoption and a second chance life. | $10,000 |
| Guide Dogs of the Desert | To support the training of guide dogs specifically customized to each client's daily tasks and needs, and in matching those dogs with people with vision loss. Objectives: (1) match 3 clients with guide dogs; (2) provide intensive training for 30 person-dog teams; graduate 30 guide dog teams to a life of independence and working partnership. | $10,000 |
| Harper for Kids | To support our program of working with principals, teachers and students to deliver character education to public schools in the coachella valley. We wrote a children's book with legendary ucla basketball coach, john wooden, entitled "inch and miles, the journey to success", and our program is based on that book. | $10,000 |
| Love & Love Tennis Foundation | To promote junior tennis in the cv by working with njtl, boys & girls club, cv housing coalition, YMCA, etc. The organization works to start free tennis clinics throughout the cv so all kids can play tennis. Love & love tennis provides free rackets, balls, shoes & lessons to njtl kids, as well as youths from the boys and girls club. | $10,000 |
| Make A Wish Foundation Orange County & Inland Empire | To support the make-a-wish program in fulfilling the most heart-felt wish of a child with a life-threatening medical condition residing within the coachella valley. The average cost of a wish is between $5,000 and $10,000. | $10,000 |
| Mizell Senior Center | To provide food for a valley-wide meals on wheels program serving the 650 square mile coachella valley from desert hot springs and palm springs to salton sea. The program serves frail and homebound seniors who have no regular means of obtaining food and are at high risk for food insecurity. For many of these seniors, the meals on wheels driver is the only person they will see in a day. | $10,000 |
| Olive Crest | Olive crest's vision is a strong family for every child. Olive crest's mission is to be dedicated to preventing child abuse, to treat and educate at-risk children and to preserve the family, "one life at a time". Olive crest seeks to make available the teachings of judeo-christian principles while respecting the religious background of each individual. The organization acknowledges the bible to be the inspired word of god that teaches there is one triune god and that salvation is a gift gained through forgiveness. | $10,000 |
| Variety the Children's Charity of the Desert | To purchase 2 adaptive bikes and 60 regular bikes for underprivileged and special needs children in the coachella valley. | $10,000 |
| CAKE4KIDS | Deliver free custom homemade birthday cakes to at-risk and underserved youth across the country! | $9,000 |
| Barbara Sinatra Children's Center | To support the individual counseling and psychiatric evaluations for 10 children triaged for sexual or physical abuse - and not part of another grant program. | $8,500 |
| Desert Best Friend's Closet | The mission of desert best friend's closet is to educate and empower our clients for success in employment and life. The vision is for all coachella valley residents to be economically self-sufficient through employment. | $8,000 |
| Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine | Coachella valley volunteers in medicine (cvvim) is to provide no-charge primary health care services to medically underserved people residing in the coachella valley. | $7,500 |
| Jewish Family Services of the Desert | To assist with funding of jfs' senior care management program which provides critically needed services to help improve the quality of life for low-income older adults throughout the coachella valley. | $7,000 |
| Autism Society | Connects people to the resources they need through education, advocacy, support, information and referral, and community programming. | $6,000 |
| Voices for Children - Riverside City | Voices for children transforms the lives of abused children by providing them with volunteer court appointed special advocates (casas). Casas are advocates and problem-solvers, who work one-on-one with a child or set of siblings in foster care to ensure their needs are met. No prior experience is needed. With the support of an advocate, a child in foster care is more likely to succeed, receive vital services, and find a safe, permanent home. | $6,000 |
| American Heart Association | The organization focus is on improving cardiovascular health through research, education, advocacy, and community programs. | $5,000 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Coachella Valley | To sponsor 200 annual memberships for 200 at-risk coachella valley teens who are unable to pay due to financial circumstances that are out of their control. | $5,000 |
| Braille Institute of America | Organization that committed to eliminating blindness and severe sight loss as barriers to a fulfilling life through educational training, programs, and services. | $5,000 |
| Cove Communities Sr Association DBA the Josyln Center | Fund the meals on wheels program, providing homebound, frail seniors with nutritious meals delivered directly to their homes, and who would otherwise go without meals. | $5,000 |
| Desert Arc | To help fund the "janitorial academy program", which is a revenue-generating component of the pathways to employment training program. Clients are taught all aspects of janitorial service. Funding is needed to assist the agency with the purchase of training materials and equipment. All academy-related costs must be secured through grants and contributions as the state of california does not reimburse for training materials or equipment. | $5,000 |
| Family Services of the Desert | To help offset direct operating expenses for family services of the desert's community food pantry food now. Expenses include rent required for warehousing and distribution, electric (utility) required for cold storage, refrigeration, and transportation expenses required for the pick-up and delivery of food products. | $5,000 |
| Friends of the Desert Mountains | To building a community of support to help preserve the unique wildlife and scenic beauty of the coachella valley and our desert mountains. We acquire and preserve wildlands, promote stewardship of trails, conduct educational programs, and support ecological research. | $5,000 |
| Galilee Center | To secure operating funds to help provide the basic needs including food, housing, school supplies, as well as the operational cost of the comfort center that provides showers, laundry facility & a community room for the farm & migrant workers (and families) employed on the local farms & residents employed in low paying jobs in eastern coachella valley. | $5,000 |
Officers and trustees
- Steve Birdwell
- Alice Moser
- Marilyn Courneya
Questions people ask
Does The Champions Volunteer Foundation accept grant applications?
No. Its IRS filing says it only makes contributions to preselected organizations.
How much does The Champions Volunteer Foundation give?
$651,000 in tax year 2024, across 51 grants, with a typical grant of $9,000.
Who runs The Champions Volunteer Foundation?
Its 2024 filing lists Steve Birdwell (Officer / Director), Alice Moser (Treasurer) and Marilyn Courneya (Secretary).
What does The Champions Volunteer Foundation fund?
Based on its grants, mainly human services, education and youth programs.