KBF Spring Newsletter

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Join us in welcoming our new
Executive Director, Ericka Southcombe

Ericka Southcombe, of Carmel Valley, has been appointed to the position of our Executive Director effective March 1, 2021. She replaces Mark Siem who has filled the role for the last three years.

Ms. Southcombe comes to the role with extensive mission-oriented experience in the Solana Beach community through engagement with MOPS International, Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, Community Serve 365, KidsGames, and is an Ordained Elder and Deacon for Presbyterian Church (USA).

Mr. Siem, the departing Executive Director, commented on his replacement, “Ericka is a highly discerning Christian with a deep faith, who has an amazing talent for inspiring people to achieve the mission of the Foundation – Serving Christ-centered missions locally and globally.”

Ms. Southcombe is inspired by the dedication of the people who serve the Kingdom Builder Foundation and commented that “I have loved hearing the stories of lives changed resulting from Kingdom Builder Foundation grants over the years. I am excited to see how the stories of God’s immense goodness, faithfulness and provision multiply as we continue to faithfully steward legacy giving in our community and around the world.”

We are very excited to have Ms. Southcombe join our team. Please join us in welcoming her.

A Fond Farewell

In March the Board of Directors regretfully said farewell to Mark Siem, who has served as Executive Director of KBF. Mark and his wife, Joan, are moving to Virginia to be close to his daughter and her family. Mark agreed to serve for three years as Executive Director at a time when the foundation was beginning a period of exciting growth. During his term Mark skillfully led the Board through restructuring, implemented new operating and financial systems, and improved our policies and procedures to enhance governance and ensure accomplishment of our vision. We will miss his results-oriented approach to management and his commitment to the mission of KBF.

An Interview with a Grant Recipient: Foundation Matthew 633 Inc

"Foundation Matthew 633 Inc is on a mission to provide an enabling environment to the underprivileged individuals and families for personal growth and independent living through the provision of basic needs, resources, supportive mentorship, training and development of skills and talents." We took some time to speak with Patricia Taylor, President and CEO, to learn more about the mission and the lives impacted by the organization.

1. How did you hear about KBF?
Two of our volunteers are members of Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, and they thought our mission and spiritual values aligned well with those of the Kingdom Builder Foundation.

2. How was your experience applying for the grant?
The process was very easy and pleasant. Though we’re not necessarily a new organization – we’ve been ministering in our neighborhood for nearly four years now – the pandemic has forced us to scale our work quickly in order to meet pretty staggering food insecurity here in the northeast corner of San Diego county. The application process, especially the requirement to communicate our mission and vision in very few words, forced us to consider how we share our ministry in clear and concise terms. Part of our KBF grant is to help us redesign our website, so some of this new language will be very helpful as we begin that process.

3. What was your experience like with receiving the grant?
We were over the moon with excitement! Though we’ve received a handful of small grants of late, mostly from organizations like the San Diego Food Bank in response to COVID-driven food insecurity, we’re pretty new to the foundation space. To date, most all of our support has been in-kind, with volunteers donating all their time collecting, assembling and distributing food and diapers, and a local church providing space for assembly and distribution. But the pandemic has really elevated our profile in the community, and we know that vulnerable families will continue to look to us for help long after COVID fades. The KBF grant is a huge encouragement to us in that it not only affirms the work we’re doing, it also confirms our hope that there may be wider support available for Foundation Matthew 633 as we seek to scale our organization in order to meet the growing need in our community.

4. How will you be using the funds and who do they impact?
We will be using the grant to bolster our technology in order to increase the efficiency of our food distribution. We will use part of the grant to underwrite the purchase of a computer tablet that will help us gather information from and keep track of our food bank clients better. We’ll also be able to transfer that information (that our food distribution partners require from us) more seamlessly into our database. A huge help!

5. Any advice for someone looking to apply for a grant?
Regardless of whether or not an organization ultimately receives a grant from KBF, the application is enormously helpful for smaller ministries like ours, in that the application questions really help sharpen and articulate mission and vision in clear and concise ways.

Grant Recipient: Casa de Amistad, a non-profit organization, serves children and families in coastal North County San Diego through education and mentoring programs.

Fall Granting for Kingdom Builder Foundation

During our Fall grant process we granted $48,000, bringing our total granting to over $300,000 in 2020. Last year was a tough year for everyone, but our Foundation continued to fulfill its mission through the generosity of our donors and the hard work of our board of directors.

The organizations which received funding are:

Casa de Amistad, a mentoring program housed at SBPC, requested help to expand its current online tutoring program by hiring "hosts", allowing Casa to serve more students.

Foundation Matthew 633 Inc. is a local mission that provides food to low-income, vulnerable individuals. Their award will support the development of a client web intake/sign-in and website support so that they can serve more individuals and families.

North County Immigration & Citizenship Center, a mission that helps immigrants navigate the complex legal and cultural pathways to citizenship, received a two year grant to help establish a legal case management system.

One Collective, is a Christ-centered ministry in Kenya that cares for and nurtures orphans and children who are disabled. They will use their grant to purchase a vehicle to transport disabled children and pick up medical supplies.

Servant Project International, is a Christ-centered humanitarian organization that demonstrates the love of Christ in Pakistan. Their award will be used in micro-enterprise for women/widows to produce sustainable income once given goats (an income-producer).

Urban Youth Collaborative supports motivational outreach Bible clubs for over 3,500 students in San Diego, Tijuana, and Atlanta. KBF funding will be used for grocery gift cards for low-income students and their families in San Diego who are struggling to meet basic needs due to COVID-19.

Young Life East County, is a local school-based ministry serving San Diego. KBF’s grant will provide half of required costs to train up to two leaders of color to better reflect the demographic they serve.

Spring Grant Application Deadline

Our spring grant application deadline is fast approaching. We hope you will encourage your favorite Christ-centered mission to apply for a grant no later than April 19th at 3pm PST. Please visit the Kingdom Builder Foundation website to learn more and apply.

Feel free to share this newsletter with friends, family or neighbors who may desire to become a member of our donor family.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Ericka Southcombe at info@kbfoundation.org

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Kingdom Builder Foundation · 120 Stevens Avenue · Solana Beach, California 92075 · USA