Courtesy/Kiwanis
ZOZOBRA News:
SANTA FE — Even after battling through two long years of daunting pandemic challenges, Zozobra and the keepers of his flame, the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, never quit on kids!
In 2021, Kiwanis was able to burn your gloom but that was only part of our purpose. Now, we need your assistance to complete our goal of helping kids by sharing the message that the Zozobra grant cycle from the net proceeds of the 2021 burning is open.
In 2020, Zozobra was the only event in the State of New Mexico that took place in live time as planned, albeit without a live audience. And even without the ticket revenues that a typical live audience of 65,000 would normally have generated, combined funds raised from the 2020 Burning of Zozobra, the Burn My Gloom campaign, merchandise sales and substantial savings from reduced logistics and equipment for a no-crowd event resulted in net proceeds of $44,000, donated in grants of $4,000 each to eleven Santa Fe area nonprofits that made life better for kids.
When 2021 rolled around, Kiwanis was as determined as ever to host a great burn, even though the 2020 pandemic burn without any ticket revenues had left event finances in dire straits. As the second long year of the pandemic wore on, event costs continued to rise and supply chain issues added new headaches, but there was never any doubt that Zozobra would burn.
While prospects for the return of a live audience in 2021 had improved, as the September event date drew closer, a new pandemic variant began to affect our community, and it became imperative to severely limit in-person attendance at the 2021 Burning of Zozobra. As a result of this conscientious but critical decision, with a crowd size that Kiwanis limited to a mere 1/5 of normal attendance to allow for social distancing, the net proceeds of ticket revenues that are the annual mainstay of Zozobra’s fundraising were dramatically reduced even while expenses for logistics and equipment for an in-person event increased.
Despite those formidable challenges, the Santa Fe Downtown Kiwanis Foundation is proud to announce a Request for Proposals for funding from a total of $25,000 made possible by the net proceeds of the September 2021 Burning of Zozobra.
Courtesy/Kiwanis
As of Today, the Foundation is accepting requests for funding from 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or public/governmental agencies that provide services for children and youth in Santa Fe and surrounding counties.
2022 grant requests in amounts up to $5,000 each will be considered. Programs to be funded by the Santa Fe Downtown Kiwanis Foundation this year will focus on health and/or safety.
Proposals will be accepted online from Wednesday, April 20, until 5 p.m. Friday, May 20; please note that late proposals will not be accepted.
Please be prepared to upload the following in PDF or JPG files:
- A proposal of no more than two pages including the following:
- Organization name, address, phone number and website address
- Name, title and contact information for the person preparing the proposal and the person responsible for the project
- A statement verifying that the organization is either a 501(c)(3) organization in good standing with the IRS and the New Mexico Attorney General, or a public/governmental agency
- Mission statement
- Program description including how the requested funds will be used
- Number of children/youth who will be served by the program
- Project budget showing income sources and expenses
- Current organizational financial statement
For questions about the content or submission of the application, contact Santa Fe Downtown Kiwanis Foundation President, Stuart R. Hamilton at gates.vols@gmail.com or 505.670.4436.
Courtesy/Kiwanis
Remember to save the date:
- Friday, Sept. 2, for The 98th Burning of Zozobra!