Organizations
Organizations I Support
Institute for Community Impact
Richard serves on the Advisory Board for the Institute, helping to guide its mission and direction while engaging the Institute’s featured nonprofit organizations.
The mission of The Institute for Community Impact is to connect, align, inspire and mobilize leaders, individuals and organizations to take an active role in identifying unmet community needs and potential solutions creating a BRIDGE for positive community IMPACT.
Learn how to get involved by visiting their website.
Orange County Community Foundation
Richard is a member of the The Impact Philanthropy Group where he helps research and selects nonprofits to support with an award grant.
The Group provides opportunities for donors to meet and learn from their peers how philanthropy can be integrated into their lives and the lives of their families.
OC Community Foundation helps people support the causes they care about most. They work with individuals, families and businesses to match charitable interests to community needs. They also provide grants and resources to nonprofits and monitor local issues.
Advisors in Philanthropy (AIP)
Richard serves as the Membership Chairman on the Orange County Chapter’s Board of Directors.
The AiP mission is to inspire and educate advisors, helping them make philanthropic planning with their clients/donors an integral part of their practice. To create a unique network of support through collegial relationships among an intentionally diverse spectrum of professionals attracted to membership in our organization, and to promote the highest ethical standards in philanthropic planning.
Learn more by visiting the AiP website.
Center Club Cares
Richard was one of the founding members and served as Committee Chairman of the Center Club Cares Initiative at Center Club.
The mission of Center Club Cares is to establish Center Club Orange County as a focal point of community support and involvement, attracting business and community leaders to join the club and its members in promoting and serving the community.
OneOC
Richard is a long time supporter of OneOC and currently sits on their Board of Directors and is Chairman of their Volunteerism Advisory Council.
OneOC provides volunteer, training, consulting and business services for nonprofits to help them become as efficient and effective as they are passionate about their missions. OneOC’s Encore Program matches volunteers’ skills with nonprofit organizations in order to address key organizational needs and projects or objectives.
Find volunteer opportunities and learn about local nonprofits on their website or Facebook page.
UCLA Giving
Richard is a past leader of this organization, having served as Chairman of the Orange County Leadership Committee as well as Vice-Chair of the UCLA Fund.
Over the past five decades, the Chancellor’s Society has emerged as a dedicated community of annual donors that represents the model of philanthropic leadership at UCLA. Today, an impressive number of loyal and generous Chancellor’s Society members pave the way for the University’s future, and inspire others to take part through service and giving.
Learn more about the UCLA Chancellor’s Society on their website or the UCLA Giving Facebook page.
Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA)
The mission of OC School of the Arts is to provide a creative, challenging, and nurturing environment that offers bright and talented students unparalleled preparation for higher education and a profession in the arts.
Pure Game
Pure Game is a nonprofit organization that uses the most popular sport in the world, soccer, to teach kids how to break free from their current circumstances and negative mindsets.
Orange County United Way
Orange County United Way envisions an Orange County where every person receives a quality education, is financially stable, is healthy and thriving, and has a place to call home.
Hands on, Orange County United Way delivers more than 50 Community Impact programs countywide and focuses on long-term solutions to the most critical interconnected challenges facing children and families right here in Orange County.
As the nation responds to the outbreak of COVID-19, Orange County United Way is hard at work to raise much-needed dollars for its Pandemic Relief Efforts, which supports low-income individuals and families at imminent risk of homelessness, the current OC population experiencing homelessness, low-income students, and partner non-profits. In this time of need and uncertainty, we are all united.
To make a donation to the Pandemic Relief Fund, visit GoFundMe.
To learn more or do more with Orange County United Way, visit their website.
Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach
The mission of the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach is to empower all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as healthy, caring, and responsible citizens.
Working Wardrobes
Working Wardrobes does everything in their power to help men, women, young adults and veterans overcome difficult challenges, so they can achieve the dignity of work.
Big Brothers Big Sisters
The mission of Big Brother Big Sisters of Orange County is to provide strong and enduring, one-to-one, professionally supported mentoring relationships for every child who needs and wants one so that every child to has the opportunity to succeed in life and live up to their full potential.
Creative Identity
Founded in 1996 by music therapist and jazz guitar recording artist George Gilliam, Creative Identity is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
They provide therapeutic music and expressive arts education, training, mentoring, and prevocational skill building services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Seizure Disorder, and Williams Syndrome.
Individuals with IDD are often defined by what they “can’t do” and are faced with multiple challenges transcending negative societal perceptions of persons with disabilities. Creative Identity addresses this need through our mission to improve the lives and societal perceptions of adults with IDD by providing therapeutic and education interventions that cultivate personal and social responsibilities, pre-vocational skills, independence, and creative potentials. By providing services that help develop our clients’ abilities to participate creatively in society through community concerts and art exhibitions, our clients can demonstrate what they “can do” and that they are also important contributing members of society.
Although our original program design is a site-based day program, Creative Identity has developed virtual programming to protect our participants who are medically vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplementing our in-person day program services during temporary closure and after re-entry to our physical sites, Creative Identity currently offers over (20) virtual classes per day, Monday through Friday, tailored to their unique needs and interests in the areas of music, expressive arts, and life skills. Creative Identity utilizes person-centered thinking and planning to assist individuals build upon their existing strengths and talents to develop the underlying skills, including cognitive, social, communication, adaptive, and gross/fine motor skills, necessary for social participation, everyday functioning, and improving their quality of life.
Visit their website to learn more.
Mercy House
Mercy House provides housing and comprehensive supportive services for a variety of homeless populations which includes families, adult men and women, mothers and their children, persons living with HIV/AIDS, individuals overcoming substance addictions, and some who are physically and mentally disabled.
Meals on Wheels Orange County
Since 1967, Community SeniorServ Inc., dba Meals on Wheels Orange County has offered nourishing care and life-enriching experiences for the well-being of at-risk older adults and their families.
As the largest nonprofit provider of older adult nutrition and support services in Orange County, they serve nearly one million meals to over 10,000 at-risk older adults annually through 23 senior and community centers, home-delivered meals and a support network of over 600 volunteers.
Meals on Wheels OC is committed to erasing hunger and loneliness for older adults through nutritious meals, therapeutic care, social connections, home visits, and other services that help them maintain their independence and quality of life.
To learn more and get involved, please visit their website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter.
Ronald McDonald House Orange County
The Orange County Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Rooms provide a comforting “home away from home” for the families of seriously ill children receiving treatment in Orange County hospitals.
Goodwill of Orange County
Goodwill of Orange County has provided thousands of people with disabilities and other barriers the opportunity to achieve their highest levels of personal and economic independence through competitive employment.
The Ecology Center
The Ecology Center is a non-profit eco-education center focused on creative solutions for thriving on planet Earth. Through daily action, we can transform our schools, homes, workplaces, and communities into vibrant spaces.
The Wooden Floor
Founded in 1983, The Wooden Floor is one of the foremost creative youth development nonprofit organizations in the country. Theytransform the lives of young people in low-income communities through the power of dance and access to higher education.
In Orange County and through national licensed partners, we use a long-term approach grounded in exploratory dance education to foster the confidence and gifts within each child to innovate, communicate, and collaborate – skills necessary for success in school and in life.
Learn more about The Wooden Floor on their website and Facebook page.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Segerstrom Center for the Arts believes in the power of performing arts to transform lives and that the shared experience and exploration of the arts will help unite Orange County, creating a more culturally connected and vital community.
The Autism Community in Action (TACA)
The Autism Community in Action (TACA) is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting families affected by autism.
For families who have just received the autism diagnosis, TACA aims to speed up the cycle time from the autism diagnosis to effective treatments. TACA helps to strengthen the autism community by connecting families and the professionals who can help them, allowing them to share stories and information to help improve the quality of life for people with autism.
UCLA Foundation
Through The UCLA Foundation, generous donors participate with building, sustaining and advancing the university. Private philanthropy provides the resources UCLA requires to continue growing its stature as a global leader in the creation, sharing and application of knowledge.
To learn more or support The UCLA Foundation, visit their website.
The Shea Center for Therapeutic Riding
The J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center is dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities through therapeutic horse-related programs. They offer clients a variety of programs that include physical, occupational, and speech therapies.
Fristers
Fristers was created to bring hope to pregnant and parenting teen moms ages 13-25. Through a unique curriculum designed to address their specific needs, young moms are given the opportunity to learn and grow to become the best women and best moms they can be.
Fristers provides teen moms with education, access to resources, role models and support.
Learn more by visiting their website.
Make A Wish Orange County & IE
Since 1983, Make-A-Wish® Orange County and the Inland Empire has granted nearly 6,000 wishes to children between the ages of 2 ½ and 18 who have life-threatening medical conditions and are living in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Established in 1990 by a coalition of government, community, business and environmental leaders, the Bolsa Chica Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization, provides services that inspire and connect all generations through community involvement and leadership in hands-on restoration and education in wetland science, watersheds, coastal ecology and environmental sustainability.
Girl Scouts of Orange County
The Girl Scouts of Orange County bring girls of all backgrounds and abilities together to discover their strengths and explore new challenges. The mission of the Girl Scouts of Orange County is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
With the help of trusted volunteers and mentors, girls learn how to be the change and make an impact on the people and places around them.
Learn more about Girl Scouts of Orange County on their website and Facebook Page.
Bracken's Kitchen
Since the outbreak of Covid1-9 we pivoted all of our programs, temporarily cancelled our food truck feeding program and turned all of our attention to preparing meals for people in need.
In the process we hired 16 out of work skilled professional who found themselves thrusted into unemployment due to restaurant closures and put them to work helping us move from 8,000 meals a week to on average 35,000 meals a week. In the last 10 weeks we have recovered over 100 tons of food, diverting it from the landfill and we have sent out over 542,000 meals to our friends in need.
To do that we focused on finding the right collaborative partners to help us get our meals to those who need it most. We now have almost 50 organizations who are picking up meals from us throughout the week to be distributed in our communities.
In the process of this pivot we realized that all of our strategic plans for the year became instantly obsolete due to this virus and we are now planning and charting our course for the remainder of the year and into next year. Given the bleak outlook for hospitality, in particular, we don’t expect our industry to see even a 50% recovery before the end of year. That means a lot of people don’t get their jobs back and continue to struggle.
We know that we are in this for the long haul and are committed to keep this increased production going and our new normal.
Connect with Bracken’s Kitchen through their website or Facebook page.
Western Youth Services
The mission of Western Youth Services is to advance awareness, cultivate success and strengthen Orange County communities through integrated mental health services for children, youth and families.
Anaheim Family YMCA
In Orange County, no other place has a 100+ year legacy of learning and laughter with youth and adult programs like the Anaheim Family YMCA. New generations are discovering what locals have known for years — this is the best place for youth swim classes, sports programs, STEM and education courses, performing and visual arts, day and resident camps, adaptive programs for special needs teens and adults, plus recreation choices for pre-school to senior citizens.
Our growing diversity of programs ensures we’re one of the best donation causes in the community, and helps us give safe options to over 7,000 kids each day after school.
Our Mission:
To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.
Our Desired Impact:
Through involvement at the Y, people in our communities are spiritually, mentally and physically healthy. Our youth feel safe and empowered to lead significant lives. All relationships are nurtured and people feel connected to one another and responsible in building a sense of community for all.
Learn more about the Anaheim Family YMCA on their website or Facebook page.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity partners with people in your community, and all over the world, to help them build or improve a place they can call home.
Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. With your support, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and for their families.
Learn more about Habitat for Humanity on their website.
Project Hope Alliance
Project Hope Alliance is a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit, whose mission is to end the cycle of homelessness, one child at a time. Homeless children have to defy unique odds in order to meet the standards of the classroom.
The education program at Project Hope Alliance is committed to helping these students overcome the obstacles posing threat to their academic success. They serve youth experiencing homelessness from Kindergarten through age 24. They provide 24/7 support, case management, mentorship, basic needs, educational resources, and more. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, PHA launched a mobile pantry and began serving families experiencing homelessness in motels across Orange County. Weekly they bring fresh and nonperishable food, Wifi hotspots, and Chromebooks. Last year, 100% of the youth served by PHA graduated high school.
Learn more about Project Hope Alliance on their website.
Grandma's House of Hope
Love and Compassion: A faith-based approach to healing and forgiveness in a safe and hopeful environment. Respect and Acceptance: A non-judgmental celebration of the diversity and uniqueness of humankind.
Honesty and Integrity: An ethical approach to supporting personal growth and family values.
Learn more about Grandma’s House of Hope on their website.
Mariposa
Our agency is based on the belief that our clients’ needs are of the utmost importance. Our entire team is committed to meeting those needs. As a result, a high percentage of our business is from repeat clients and referrals.
We welcome the opportunity to earn your trust and deliver you the best service in the industry.
Learn more about Mariposa on their website.
Abound Food Care
The success of Abound’s food care model has increasingly gained national attention — particularly as the issues of food waste, food insecurity, health and environmental impact, and regulatory compliance all continue to increase in urgency. We are poised to provide these regional solutions to a national problem by optimizing local resources that maximize food care efficiency.
With this aspirational role in mind, these are the statements that guide our work each day:
Purpose: why we exist: “To build a sustainable future by ending hunger and food waste.”
Vision: what we aspire to be: “To become the nation’s food care model.”
Mission: what we do: “To create regional solutions to a national problem, strengthening our communities.”
Learn more about Abound Food Care visit their website.
Giving Children Hope
Giving Children Hope is a faith-based non-profit group that’s mission is to help children and families break out of the cycle of need to become successful and self-sustainable. Giving Children Hope helps families in the areas of housing, food, and essentials to help them find a way out of poverty. Through various programs and the help of countless volunteers, we can help children and families in Southern California achieve this goal.
Take a look at some of the programs it offers and how people can get involved on their website.
The All American Boys Chorus
The All-American Boys Chorus is founded on the belief that boys have the potential for greatness. It is remarkable to consider a child in this way but we know it to be true.
With training and determination, a boy’s voice produces a unique sound of unparalleled beauty that has been used for over a thousand years to entertain, uplift and inspire.
Learn more about All American Boys Chorus on their website.
Integrous Women
Integrous Women is on a mission to empower women leaders to leave a legacy with integrity through personal development, creating and scaling a business with a mission and giving forward.
Our vision is to create communities of Integrous leaders world-wide, who use their socially conscious organizations to positively impact underserved communities in a sustainable way. Our monthly workshops and membership platform help us sustain mental health and job skills programming for our partner orphanage, Esperanza y Futuro, in Guatemala.
To learn more about our social enterprise, click here.
To watch the award-winning documentary, click here.
Southern California Hospice Foundation
Our mission is to deliver a breadth of resources to caregivers, families and patients who are confronting the final stages of life.
Mighty Oaks Foundation
The Mighty Oaks Foundation is a faith-based Veteran service organization that teaches combat Veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress how to get beyond combat trauma and live their lives in the manner God intended.
Many combat vets are unable to reintegrate back into civilian life, leaving their families to deal with the aftermath of broken homes and suicide at times. By aligning their lives to Biblical principles, these Warriors are able to lead their families, their communities and our nation.
To learn more about our organization, click here.
Veterans Legal Institute
Veterans Legal Institute® (VLI) provides pro bono legal assistance to homeless, at risk, disabled and low income current and former service members to eradicate barriers to housing, healthcare, education, and employment and foster self-sufficiency.
Learn more about Veterans Legal Institute on their website.
The Thomas House Family Shelter
The Thomas House Family Shelter not only gives families a roof over their heads when they are most in need, but they also help people permanently change their lives. They aid in addressing barriers to employment so people can find a job, save money, and get back on their feet.
Taller San Jose Hope Builders
Taller San Jose Hope Builders mentors disadvantaged young adults to give them the life skills and job skills they need to find employment. Through training programs that simulate the real-world workforce, participants learn basic skills in their chosen area.
They are required to show up daily, act professionally, and be responsible. Hope Builders also offers job coaching to match young adults with employers who are looking for skilled, reliable workers.
Learn more about how Taller San Jose Hope Builders is committed to helping young adults find solid employment on their website or Facebook page.
CASA OC
CASA of Orange County strives to be the voice of children who are abused, neglected, or abandoned.CASA of OC works to protect children who cannot live safely with their biological parents, get through and out of foster care safely and find permanent homes.
Volunteers serve as mentors for these children as advocates look to promote their best interests in courtrooms and in other environments where they can’t represent themselves. To date, CASA of Orange County has changed the lives of more than 7,000 children.
Project Self-Sufficiency
Project Self-Sufficiency helps low-income single parents in Orange County, California, graduate from college or vocational training with the skills necessary to achieve economic independence. We do this by providing customized, wraparound services throughout their educational journey and transition into a successful career.
OC Nonprofit Central
OC Nonprofit Central makes giving easy. A fully searchable online database of Orange County nonprofit organizations, it was created to help donors and residents better understand the local nonprofit community and discover how to support the causes they care about the most.
Learn more or search for nonprofits on their website.
Halftime Institute
The Halftime Institute is the leading authority on creating a second half of life defined by joy, impact and balance. Their proven model of teaching, coaching, and connecting provides the personalized support needed to gain clarity, joy, and focus in how to apply your unique skills and abilities to causes about which you are most passionate.
Future Leaders of Our Community
Future Leaders of Our Community is an organization that brings awareness, inspiration and participation opportunities to young professionals in our community. Through unique programming with local nonprofits, businesses, & community leaders; FLOC impacts its members with passion and commitment for the community.
Council on Aging - Southern California
Since 1973, the Council on Aging-Southern California has been serving seniors and disabled adults in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo, and Mono counties. The organization provides useful information, programs, and services to more than 100,000 each year.
Programs offered include a friendly visitor program, a smile-makers guild that delivers gifts around the holidays, and health insurance counseling. The Council on Aging also provides a Concierge Care Navigators program that helps families manage health care conditions for their loved ones as they get older.
Learn more about Council on Aging-Southern California on their website and Facebook Page.
Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College, located in southern Michigan, is a small Christian, classical liberal arts college. Students come from around the country as well as from more than a dozen foreign countries. Areas of study include accounting, chemistry, graphic design, journalism, music, and much more.
Besides traditional college classes offered in a classroom setting, Hillsdale College also offers free not-for-credit online classes taught by Hillsdale College faculty. These classes are modeled after those taught at the school.
For more information about Hillsdale College and its courses, visit the school’s website.
Angels for Higher
Angels for Higher, located in Orange County, is an organization that helps to encourage the hiring of those with Down Syndrome to work as greeters in sports stadiums, athletic venues, college campuses, and performing arts centers across the country.
It’s inspired by Trevor Hendershot, son of Angels for Higher CEO Robert Hendershot, who got his first job as a Team Store Greeter by MLB’s L.A. Angels in 2021, then by the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks in 2013.
He was also hired as a greeter by the L.A. Rams and USC Trojans in 2018. Angels for Higher aims to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the country by encouraging organizations to hire more greeters with Down Syndrome.
Visit Angels for Higher online and on Facebook to learn more.
Free Wheelchair Mission
Free Wheelchair Mission is a non-profit faith-based organization that makes and designs affordable wheelchairs for developing countries around the world.
With millions of people around the world in need of a wheelchair, the Free Wheelchair Mission believes that everyone who needs a wheelchair should have access to one. By bringing wheelchairs to people, this group opens up doors to education and employment that would otherwise be inaccessible. Learn how to get involved here.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast aim to help youth reach their fullest potential by ensuring they have access to the tools they need.
From early literacy programs to teen centers and college-bound programs, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast helps children of all ages with different aspects of development. The organization serves youth and families in Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach, Orange, and Santa Ana. Volunteers take part in Mentor Days, food distribution, back-to-school events, and more. To learn about The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast, visit their website.
Kherut
Kherut’s mission is to empower survivors of human trafficking by providing them with education, mentorship, and long-term employment opportunities in a safe environment.
Kherut strives to build commissary kitchens that can support up to 10 food trucks per location. It works with partnering organizations such as the Salvation Army and Casa Teresa, to provide paid training for food service skills. You can learn more about Kherut’s mission and volunteer opportunities here.