NATIVIDAD MEDICAL FOUNDATION Year Founded: 1988 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 11 paid, 69 volunteers Budget: $1,707,886 (831) 755-4187 natividadfoundation.org BIG IDEA: Natividad Medical Foundation’s Big Idea is dedicated to its tiniest patients. Natividad’s Level III NICU provides intensive care for premature babies, including the use of isolettes, the sealed environment engineered to help infants with essential functions like breathing and holding a temperature. Natividad now needs to replace nine isolettes at $38,000 each, or nearly $350,000 total. Other partners have already pledged funding; MCGives! donors will bring this project across the finish line. “‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart.’ Jose and I said that to each other every day in the NICU, and we still say it. At 27 weeks, my doctor could not find a heartbeat and an ultrasound showed there was no fluid around my baby. She was delivered by cesarean 13 weeks early, weighing 1 pound, 1 ounce. I named her Mia, which means ‘mine’ in Spanish, and for the first three weeks I could not hold her. Jose and I came two to three times a day. We changed her, held her against our skin, and the team taught her how to eat. She came home after almost three months. Mia is 2 now. She has tiny pigtails, big opinions and a firm preference for pink.” -Miranda Torres-Maravilla PARENTING CONNECTION OF MONTEREY COUNTY Year Founded: 2014 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 12 paid, 8 volunteers Budget: $800,000 (831) 647-3333 parentingconnectionmc.org BIG IDEA: Imagine navigating the experience of giving birth silently, without the ability to express your thoughts about this life-changing moment. The Parenting Connection of Monterey County empowers all parents by providing free, community-based services like peer support groups and a warmline. PCMC’s Big Idea, the Doula Hub, matches families with trained doulas who understand the family’s language and cultural perspectives on birth. Consistent doula support results in better birth outcomes, parent-child bonding and lower rates of postpartum depression. “Before PCMC, I felt invisible at my appointments. No one spoke my language or understood what birth meant to my family and culture. My doula changed everything. She was with me through every contraction and every moment of doubt, never making me feel like I was asking for too much. Because of her, I gave birth feeling strong, informed and truly seen. Every mother deserves that.” -Adriana R. (translated from Spanish) PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN YEAR FOUNDED: 2016 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 8 paid, 140 volunteers Budget: $503,161 (831) 422-3002 partnerforkids.org BIG IDEA: Partnership for Children is committed to a Big Idea that the price of gas should not get between a child and critical medical care. Donations to last year’s MCGives! supported 421 direct medical rides, 2,787 gas cards and 41 hospital parking passes. This flexible funding also helped Partnership for Children respond nimbly to the emergency needs of 166 families, providing more than $86,000 in additional financial aid. “It’s hard to ask for help, but Partnership made it so easy—no stress, just support.” -Maria, mom of Amaia 130 Monterey County GIVES! 2026 mcgives.com HEALTH, WELLNESS & FOOD DONATE ONLINE MCGIVES.COM “Everyone is treated with respect and dignity.” -Liliana Gonzalez, Nancy’s Project EVERYONE’S HARVEST Year Founded: 2002 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 7 paid, 40 volunteers Budget: $1,929,005 (831) 384-6961 everyonesharvest.org BIG IDEA: Thanks to Everyone’s Harvest, you can shop for fresh, local food and connect to neighbors at six farmers markets each week. Because this nonprofit believes everyone should have the ability to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, its Big Idea advances “food-is-medicine” initiatives like FreshRx, which allows physicians to write prescriptions for these markets that patients can use to shop for food that helps manage illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes. Last year, Everyone’s Harvest served more than 500 “patients.” Thanks to an expansion in 2026 to serve any eligible Medi-Cal member with a diet-related illness (or at risk of developing one), the program had already served 643 patients by late October. “[Fresh Rx] has helped me eat less junk food, and now I eat more fruits and vegetables. It helped with my blood sugar; my levels are better, and my doctor has told me that my blood sugar is more under control. Thank you.” -Fernando Jimenez Carillo (translated from Spanish) SPOTLIGHT
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