Matched for Good: Local Giving Doubles the Impact for Ceres Community Project
We’re thrilled to share exciting news: Ceres Community Project has been awarded the Newman’s Own Foundation matching grant that Santa Rosa Women for Good submitted on their behalf as part of a special, time-limited opportunity. This national recognition affirms what our members already know: that Ceres is doing extraordinary, life-changing work across Sonoma County.
How This Opportunity Began
At the end of 2025, Santa Rosa Women for Good was invited to participate in a competitive grant-matching opportunity through Newman’s Own Foundation, which sought to support organizations nourishing and transforming the lives of children facing adversity through nutrition education and food empowerment.
Because of the tight timeline, our leadership team moved quickly to identify a local nonprofit whose mission aligned deeply with both our values and the Foundation’s priorities. We selected Ceres Community Project and committed a $1,000 grant from our reserve, later amplified by additional member contributions, as part of this special submission. With our original $1,000 grant, additional contributions from our members and the matching funds from the Newman’s Own Foundation we are thrilled to be providing a total of $2,411 to Ceres Community Project.
You can read more about the original opportunity, our collective giving effort, and member support in our earlier post here.
Why Ceres Was a Natural Fit
Newman’s Own Foundation was specifically seeking to support organizations that include a strong nutrition education component, such as youth learning about cooking, growing healthy food, and understanding culturally appropriate nourishment.
Ceres Community Project is a powerful embodiment of this mission. Through their incredible youth development program, young people volunteer alongside their peers to grow, cook, and prepare beautiful, delicious, and nourishing meals, which are then home-delivered to individuals and families facing serious illness.
Youth who participate in the program become skilled at cooking a wide range of healthy and delicious meals and also learn how to garden, including how to build soil, grow food, make compost, and care for perennial plants. Through this program, youth volunteers discover how food choices influence personal health, the local food system, and the health of our planet. At the same time, these efforts ensure that community members facing illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, or congestive heart failure receive medically tailored meals made with dignity and care.
Hearing the Impact Firsthand
At our most recent Santa Rosa Women for Good event, we had the opportunity to hear directly from Ceres’ grant manager Elissa Gibb, whose words brought the mission of Ceres to life for our group. She shared powerful stories that illustrated the profound impact Ceres has on the lives of the people it serves throughout Sonoma County.
At the heart of Ceres Community Project is a deep belief in honoring every individual with care and empowering the next generation to help lead the way forward. That belief resonates strongly with our members and our collective vision.
Collective Giving, National Impact
We are incredibly proud that our members were able to support such an inspiring organization and to help elevate Ceres onto a national platform through this grant opportunity. The awarding of the Newman’s Own Foundation matching funds is a meaningful affirmation of Ceres’ work and a powerful example of what collective giving can accomplish.
Thank you to our members for making this possible, and congratulations to Ceres Community Project on this well-deserved recognition. We’re honored to stand alongside them and look forward to continuing our connection with the Ceres team in the coming months as we explore volunteer opportunities for our members to be able to continue to support their work in a hands on way.