Community Chest seeks to bring attention to local nonprofits

Public to vote on which will receive $500

A new Chamber of Commerce program will award one local nonprofit $500 per month, and residents get to choose who wins.

Sponsored by Yuba County Supervisor Randy Fletcher, the Chamber Community Chest is aiming to bring attention to local nonprofits, as well as increasing interest in the YubaSutter Chamber of Commerce. Fletcher, of Fletcher & Associates Insurance, donated $5,000 to the program, which will be given to nonprofits each month in the form of a check for $500.

“It was just an idea, and I’m all about new ideas, let’s try something a little different,” Fletcher said Thursday.

Fletcher said he learned about the idea through the American Chestnut Association, of which he is also a member.

He said he wanted to help the Chamber of Commerce get more exposure, as well as highlighting local nonprofits. Last year, he said he donated $6,000 to the Bok Kai dinner. With this idea, he said, he could donate the same amount of money and help more than one organization. He hopes that other businesses show interest and are able to sponsor and keep the program going in the future.

“Another business out of the area is going to take the idea in another county at another chamber,” Fletcher said. “And that’s how things get done, I think.”

In the chamber’s press release, Chamber CEO Rikki Shaffer said she hopes to grow the Chamber Community Chest into a vehicle for giving into the future.

“It is a simple and fun way to engage the community in the process of giving; they will be the deciders of the recipients, all of which are absolutely deserving of support and make significant contributions to our community,” Shaffer said.

The March nominees include Casa de Esperanza, Tri Counties Blue Star Moms, Sutter Performing Arts Association, The Acting Company, Rotary Club of Yuba City, and the Loma Rica Lions Club. Readers can vote online at yubasutterchamber.com/chamber-community-chest.

The voting for nominees opens online each month on the first, and closes the last day of the month. The nominees through the end of the year come from the chamber’s preselected list of 60 local nonprofits. Toll Free.................