Private organization helps secure funding for Chapter events

What do the following have in common? A $500 album of Chapter photos from the 1920s, the Chapter Schedule of Activities, preserving Signal Hill open space, and eight annual CPR/first aid classes open to the public?

If you guessed the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, you're close but wrong.

All four are funded by the Friends of the Angeles Chapter Foundation (FACF), a separate, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. FACF fills in gaps in the Chapter's funding and allows donors to direct tax-deductible funds to favorite local projects.

The album- spotted by chance on EBay from a seller in Canada - was acquired by directed donations from the very active Chapter History Committee.

A $250,000 bequest from Adam Burke in 2003, now in the outings endowment fund, helps provide Chapter members with the much-appreciated Schedule of Activities.

Like other project-specific funds, FACF's fund for Signal Hill allows local residents who might not support the Sierra Club in other ways to work with the Club on this project.

And the CPR classes, though primarily attended by Chapter leaders meeting the requirements for the Leadership Training Course, can benefit anyone involved in outdoor recreation.

'Without the help of FACF, planning for the Emerald Neckace - the San Gabriel River/Rio Hondo project - would be delayed,' said board member Judy Anderson. (Before Amigos de Los Rios obtained its own nonprofit recognition, FACF channeled funding from the Metropolitan Water District, the East San Gabriel Water District, the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, the City of El Monte and others into the project.)

Former Chapter Chair Elden Hughes set up FACF in the mid-1980s to fund the chapter office, accept bequests, and store funds from big-name mountaineering events. FACF now also serves as a locally-focused alternative to the national Sierra Club Foundation.

FACF, says Anderson, can accept donations for litigation usually only if there is an existing lawsuit. But if the board knows an issue is contentious and will certainly generate litigation (such as the Tejon Ranch project and ongoing Santa Monica Mountains development), FACF can a accept a directed donation for that purpose. It welcomes opportunities to work with prospective donors on identifying compatible projects.

FACF has eight board members, with a ninth seat currently unfilled. It meets monthly at the chapter office and meetings are open to public. Contact FACF at www.angelesfoundation.org, phone 213-387-4287 x214.