VENTANA WILDERNESS ALLIANCE Year Founded: 2000 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 11 paid, 150 volunteers Budget: $978,540 (831) 423-3191 ventanawild.org BIG IDEA: Conserving and sharing the wonders of the Big Sur backcountry is the mission of the Ventana Wilderness Alliance (VWA). It’s a challenging Big Idea, involving hard work like restoring access to the soaring Pine Ridge Trail and maintaining fire safety across this diverse landscape, which extends from the northern Santa Lucia Mountains along the Big Sur coast. This nonprofit’s Youth in Wilderness trips introduce youth from underserved communities to the rugged reality of the remote backcountry by providing backpacking trips at no cost to participants. “VWA’s Youth in Wilderness free backpacking trips change how my students from Salinas carry themselves—at school, at home and with each other. Most have never set foot in a wilderness area, and without VWA, they likely never would. I’ve seen them return from the backcountry with greater confidence, stronger leadership and a deeper connection to themselves and the natural world. These aren’t just outdoor experiences—they’re turning points. Supporting VWA means more than preserving trails and wild places—it means investing in young people who need nature not as an escape, but as a way forward.” -Christian Lamonea WATSONVILLE WETLANDS WATCH Year Founded: 1991 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 15 paid, 800 volunteers Budget: $2,951,833 (831) 728-1156 watsonvillewetlandswatch.org BIG IDEA: Urban forestry is the focus of the Big Idea from Watsonville Wetlands Watch. Building on its success adding an expanded tree canopy and plantings to Pajaro Middle School, this nonprofit seeks to increase forest density at parks, yards and businesses across Pajaro. Part of this initiative involves hosting bilingual community events to educate residents about urban forestry as a climate resilience measure. Residents can then participate in the citywide effort by adopting trees. “I’ve always cared about the environment since I was a kid, but being taught about climate change in school made me feel helpless. I knew we had to do something, so I joined Watsonville Wetlands Watch. I’ve worked on solutions: picking up garbage, planting native plants and teaching others about waste reduction and water conservation. I’ve taught kids about climate change and sustainability, leading clean-ups and habitat restoration projects. I’ve learned that when people realize their impact, they act. I’ve learned that leadership isn’t just doing something myself—it’s getting others to do it too.” -Enrique Morales, 18 124 Monterey County GIVES! 2025 mcgives.com ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY DONATE ONLINE MCGIVES.COM SAVE OUR SHORES Year Founded: 1980 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 6 paid, 5,000 volunteers Budget: $498,296 (831) 462-5660 saveourshores.org BIG IDEA: For 45 years, Save Our Shores has been hard at work removing pollution from local coastal ecosystems. Thousands of pounds of ocean-bound waste are diverted by these efforts each year—but this Big Idea needs to get bigger. Save Our Shores seeks support to train 20 bilingual Sanctuary Stewards, the guides who monitor volunteer clean-up efforts while collecting vital pollution data along the shores of Monterey Bay. These stewards would then be tasked with recruiting 100 additional volunteers to help remove 15,000 pounds of debris from Monterey County waterways. “I volunteer for Save Our Shores because I love Monterey Bay and our beautiful California coastline, and I want to protect it. I do it to help give back and take care of our amazing piece of the Central Coast.” -Jeffrey Rensel SPOTLIGHT “We now have confidence to grow our businesses.” -Maria Aguilar, Regenerative California
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