2021 Annual Report

Donor-Advised Funds

One of the most effective ways to make a meaningful and lasting impact in the community is by partnering with the Paso del Norte Community Foundation and starting a charitable giving fund. In 2021, 21 new Donor-Advised Funds joined the PdNCF’s Community of Philanthropy, including the Fox Family Foundation, Lexa Dean Jobe and Billie Mac Jobe Family Foundation, Martie Jobe and Stanley Jobe Family Foundation, Margie and Ed Escudero Charitable Fund, and the Leonard “Tripper” Goodman Donor-Advised Fund, among others.

Fox Family Foundation

The Paso del Norte Community Foundation is honored to facilitate meaningful charitable gifts and is grateful to work with generous donors such as the Fox Family Foundation. The Fox family, along with representatives from the Fox Auto Group and leadership from the Paso del Norte Community Foundation and Fundación Paso del Norte in Juárez, gifted a new and upgraded handicapped-accessible van to the Sisters of Charity and the community of Proyecto Santo Niño. Proyecto Santo Niño was created to help children with disabilities in Anapra, MX by offering special services specific to their needs. The Proyecto Santo Niño clinic includes volunteer massage therapists, special education teachers, physical and speech therapists, and others who share their time, talents, and loving service. Sister Andrea Koverman of the Sisters of Charity explained what the donation of this van means to their clinic: “Besides being so cheerful and bright, the van will have a tremendous impact on our ability to transport our children with special needs safely and securely. We are grateful beyond words for this tremendous gift!”

Melinda and Meyer Marcus Family Foundation

The Melinda and Meyer Marcus family celebrated 100 years of contributing to El Paso County in a myriad of ways: entrepreneurialism, volunteerism, philanthropy, and raising their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in their beloved community. The Marcus family established the Melinda and Meyer Marcus Family Foundation in the Paso del Norte Community Foundation in 2019 to further their investment in our region. On August 25, 2021, the Melinda and Meyer Marcus Family Foundation presented Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso with a gift of $50,000 for the Pediatric Surgery of Excellence Fund at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center El Paso. This gift was made to honor the incredible talent of Dr. Shawn Diamond, Plastic Surgeon and Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center of El Paso. Dr. Diamond performed surgery on young Luca Martinez, cherished grandson of Melinda and Meyer Marcus. The surgery was a resounding success due to the talent and skill of Dr. Diamond and his team. Just a short time ago, a child facing the same kind of surgery would have been referred to a hospital outside of El Paso. The Melinda and Meyer Marcus family love El Paso and are deeply committed to its continued growth and success.

Scholarship Funds

Despite the many challenges of online learning due to the pandemic, in 2021, more than $307,000 was awarded to 165 students to reach their full potential through one of 38 Scholarship Funds under the Paso del Norte Community Foundation umbrella including the new Helen of Troy Scholarship of Excellence for Marginalized Students, which awarded $10,000 scholarships to three students attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yale University, and The University of Texas at Austin, respectively.

The EPISD Education Foundation and Canutillo Alumni Foundation for Education (CAFÉ) continued their scholarship work supporting more than 50 students. The Deby Lewis Foundation, with a generous grant from the Mantandon Charitable Trust, awarded another $50,000 to graduating seniors from Eastwood High School. Scholarship Funds are essential resources that open doors and make a lifetime impact on students and families.

For more information on scholarship opportunities, click here.

Agency Funds

The Paso del Norte Community Foundation works with individuals and groups to support important community initiatives and projects and make an impact in the community. Agency Funds such as Success Through Technology Education (STTE) Foundation Fund, El Paso Pro Musica Endowment Fund, Mija, Yes You Can, and Green Hope Project make a difference in our community every day.

Moms On Board

After many years of dedicated planning and fundraising, Moms on Board (MOB) celebrated the groundbreaking of the first All-Abilities Playground in the region. Led by project co-chairs Adrianne Riley Moody and Leyla Safa-Zeidan, in partnership with the County of El Paso, and with the support of the PdN Community Foundation and hundreds of donors and sponsors, the playground will be built at Ascarate Park to provide healthy development for everybody’s physical, social, cognitive, and sensory abilities. “We are very excited to reach this milestone,” said Adrianne Moody, co-founder of MOB. MOB looks forward to completing the playground project in the coming year.

FEMME Frontera

Femme Frontera hosted its sixth annual Filmmaker Showcase (FFFS), featuring eight short films inspired by female and non-binary filmmakers from across the globe. FEMME Frontera is a Latin/a/x-led film organization made up of women and non-binary filmmakers in the U.S. - Mexico border region. The Femme Frontera Filmmaker Showcase began in 2016 as an informal celebration of films made by women filmmakers from the U.S. and Mexico border region. Now in its sixth year, it has expanded to include international filmmakers and events beyond its film screenings. Khaula Malik, Director of the 2021 FFFS Documentary Short, “There Was Nobody Here We Knew!,” said she was excited to be a part of this year’s showcase. “I heard of the FFFS and applied because of the festival’s focus on giving a platform and voice for filmmakers from the nondominant communities, such as color and border communities.” FEMME Frontera received a generous grant from the Ford Foundation in 2021.

El Paso Giving Day

On October 14, 2021, individuals from near and far participated in the sixth annual El Paso Giving Day. This online charitable giving event is designed to ignite the spirit of giving and support nonprofit organizations and charitable causes in the community. The 7,150 unique donors gave more than 7,608 gifts to 213 registered nonprofit organizations to help meet the needs of our community’s most vulnerable populations. In total, more than $1.2 million was raised by October 31, including more than $200,000 in matching funds and $32,000 in incentive prizes.

In addition to gifts from individual donors, Walmart, Helen of Troy, El Paso Electric, and Lauterbach Borshow & Co. provided matching dollars to help organizations maximize their gifts. Each year, the generosity shown by corporate sponsors provides nonprofits with additional dollars that help them continue to serve our region.

El Paso Giving Day is an initiative of the Paso del Norte Community Foundation, which helps nonprofit organizations reach their fundraising goals, attract new donors, and spread awareness about their vital programming. This past El Paso Giving Day proved that even in a pandemic, individuals were ready to support one another in the spirit of El Paso Strong.

For a complete list of El Paso Giving Day participating organizations and funds raised, Click here.

Nonprofit Conference – Reimagine!

Given the challenges of the pandemic, nonprofit organizations had to serve more people in need with fewer resources. The inaugural Nonprofit Conference: Reimagine! was created for nonprofit executive leadership, staff, and board members to come together to think, develop, and grow. The virtual conference featured three keynote speakers, three lightning talks, and three break-out sessions/panels. Panelists and speakers included locally and nationally respected authors, thinkers, philanthropists, and corporate leaders. The conference hosted more than 400 attendees and 1,132 post-conference page visits. Special thanks to the generous sponsors including Microsoft, El Paso Electric, Helen of Troy, Walmart, WestStar Bank, Bank of America, Chick-Fil-A on Airway and Edgemere, and the Joy and Anthony Martinez Foundation for their support of the inaugural conference.

EP Rent Help

The PdN Community Foundation’s Rental Assistance Program, EP Rent Help, was established in 2020 in partnership with the City of El Paso and was expanded in 2021 by both the City and County of El Paso, providing the Foundation with additional rental assistance funding to help prevent evictions and homelessness. To have been eligible for the program, tenants must have earned at or below 80% of the area median income, which for a household of four would have been at or below $48,700; must have been economically impacted by COVID; and must have been past due on rent.

The Paso del Norte Community Foundation received more than 10,500 applications since the program’s inception in April 2020. By the close of the program in 2022, EP Rent Help will have paid out nearly $38 million in rental assistance to benefit more than 6,000 tenants.

“I had lost my job due to COVID and shortly after lost my mother and I took my younger brother in to live with me. What I loved about the program is that the staff were helpful and understanding. I will be forever grateful to them. I am thankful for the EP Rent Assistance Program, God bless you all.”

- Jessica Jaramillo, EP Rent Help Rental Assistance Recipient

Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation

In 2021, the Paso del Norte Community Foundation established the Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation and Community Advisory Committee to support the design, engineering, community engagement, and future construction of this once-in-a-lifetime project to create a 12-acre recreational green gathering space and important amenity in the downtown corridor. With a $900,000 RAISE grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded to the City of El Paso and $180,000 in matching funds from the Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation, El Paso has the opportunity to take the next step in this important project to re-connect neighborhoods separated by the construction of I-10 more than 50 years ago and add an amenity to downtown and surrounding neighborhoods for our entire region to enjoy.

Paso del Norte Trail Foundation

The Paso del Norte Trail Foundation was established in 2018 to support the development and utilization of a 68-mile hike/bike trail across El Paso County. With 23 trail miles completed to date, the Trail Foundation brings together partners to add new miles of trail each year to complete this important amenity. Thanks to local and state, and federal investments and private contributions through the “Friends of the Trail” program, new trail miles and amenities are being added from Tornillo to Fabens, on the Playa Drain Trail, and in the River Trail segments of the Paso del Norte Trail. Special thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Paso del Norte Trail Advisory Committee, Paso del Norte Health Foundation, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, City of El Paso, County of El Paso, Texas Department of Transportation, El Paso County Water Improvement District #1, El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization, Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, Medical Center of the Americas Foundation, Friends of the Trail, and other regional partners and donors.