Monterey Clinic’s Big Idea is to remove health care barriers and make health care available to everyone at its clinic locations. Additional initiatives include free telehealth and in-person visits to patients with urgent and chronic conditions like diabetes or kidney disease. Donations support this 30-year-old volunteer-powered service, providing necessary funds for essentials like diabetic test strips, office supplies and pedometers. “I didn’t have insurance and Seaside Family Health Center referred me to RotaCare many years ago. I am a diabetic and RotaCare has helped me with my medications, appointments, labs and supplies. Dr. Thompson is very kind and patient with me. He makes sure that I have my labs done regularly and that my diabetes is controlled. I am very thankful because if it wasn’t for RotaCare, I would not be able to see a doctor.” -RotaCare patient SALINAS VALLEY HEALTH FOUNDATION Year Founded: 1980 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 8 paid, 32 volunteers Budget: $2,387,487 (831) 759-1880 salinasvalleyhealthfoundation.org BIG IDEA: When emergency room visits now reach 65,000 annually, instead of the 15,000 the building was built to handle, it’s time for a Big Idea. Salinas Valley Health Foundation supports Salinas Valley Health, and is seeking support to help the hospital expand its 1950s-era emergency department. This modernized ER will improve patient flow and enhance privacy for those arriving at SVH in their most urgent and vulnerable moment—often more than 200 such patients every day. “I have been an attending physician in the emergency department at Salinas Valley Health for the last 10 years. Every day, I have the privilege of seeing the commitment, compassion and clinical excellence that our ER team provides to every person who comes to us in need of care. I am excited about the future and the opportunity to expand our physical space beyond 17 beds to better meet the needs of our wonderful community today, and for decades to come.” -Cristina Martinez, MD, medical director of SVH emergency department SOLEDAD COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE DISTRICT FOUNDATION Year Founded: 1996 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 0 paid, 10 volunteers Budget: $64,179 (831) 237-0006 soledadhealthcaredistrictfoundation.org BIG IDEA: How can you recover from illness without a proper bed? Soledad Community Health Care District Foundation dedicates this year’s Big Idea to supporting healing at the Soledad Community Health Care District’s Eden Valley Care Center. Donations will sponsor the replacement of every bed in the facility to modern, specialized models. These beds reduce pain and prevent pressure injuries for patients while also being safer and less demanding on caregiving staff. Progress has already been made on this Big Idea; you can help finish the job of granting every patient comfort, mobility and dignity. “I was scared to stay in a skilled nursing facility. I had visited several in Salinas and told my family I didn’t want to go to any of them. But the moment I entered Eden Valley Care Center, it felt like a peaceful hacienda—not a hospital. The cleanliness, the fountain, the plants—it was calm, welcoming and nothing like I expected. I’m truly thankful for the peace, care and dignity I experienced during my recovery there.” -Ms. Flores, former Eden Valley resident 140 Monterey County GIVES! 2025 mcgives.com HEALTH, WELLNESS & FOOD DONATE ONLINE MCGIVES.COM PLANNED PARENTHOOD MAR MONTE (PPMM) Year Founded: 1964 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 33 paid, 560 volunteers Budget: $7,117,761 (408) 795-3780 ppmarmonte.org BIG IDEA: Planned Parenthood Mar Monte (PPMM) is currently facing a court challenge to its Medicaid reimbursements for services like cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted infections and birth control. As this organization establishes a sustainable business model that does not rely on federal funding, donations help stabilize the delivery of PPMM’s Big Idea: offering affordable, accessible, lifesaving healthcare to local patients, 88 percent of whom live in poverty. Patients at PPMM receive quality, confidential, affordable health care, no matter their income, immigration status or other barriers to health care they may face. “When I was 15 years old, I experienced an unwanted pregnancy. When I felt like I had no one to trust with all the changes that were happening in my life and with my body, Planned Parenthood was there for me. Being pregnant at such a young age is very frowned upon in my culture, and terminating one is even worse. The support I received from Planned Parenthood at that very important time of my life was everything I could have ever hoped for.” -Anonymous, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte patient SPOTLIGHT “Thank you for helping me with my plan to age gracefully and successfully in my senior years.” -Marcia Grace Alcott, The Carmel Foundation
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