The event raised over $6,000 for Davis non-profit organizations
By RORY CONLON — city@theaggie.org
The Davis Downtown Business Association (DDBA) and Davis Phoenix Coalition (DPC) hosted their first Big Day in Dining event from April 29 to May 1. During the event, proceeds from four downtown businesses were donated to 24 Davis non-profit organizations.
Gloria Partida serves as the executive director for the Davis Phoenix Coalition, a non-profit that runs anti-bullying initiatives and advocates for the LGBTQ+ community. Partida said she first approached the DDBA with the idea for the event.
“The businesses downtown are often sponsors for many of the non-profits in our area,” Partida said. “I thought it would be the perfect partnership to give back to businesses and also to have people come out and meet non-profits working in our area.”
The four restaurants that participated in the event were Woodstock’s Pizza, Upper Crust Bakery, Outpost Burger and Sophia’s Thai Kitchen. Businesses were given the option of donating a percentage of their proceeds or a flat donation.
Woodstock’s Pizza donated 20% of its proceeds with the goal of raising $5,000. Maricela Gloria, the interim general manager at Woodstock’s, said they first heard about the fundraiser in a DDBA newsletter.
“It just seemed like something that was an easy thing to participate in, [to] be a part of the community and give back,” Gloria said. “So we were like, ‘Heck yeah, we want to do that.’ We host in-house fundraisers for clubs and organizations all the time.”
Kevin Wan, the DDBA president and owner of Sophia’s Thai Kitchen, donated 15% of his restaurant’s proceeds. He said that amid funding cuts to non-profits, it’s important for local businesses to give back.
“We don’t exist without our community, without the people that come to our establishments,” Wan said. “These people have kids in schools, and they are part of community organizations that are also important to them. We all need to band together and help each other out when other sources of funding, especially government funding that used to be relied on, suddenly goes away.”
Partida said her organization was nervous when putting their Pride Festival together, as anti-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts under Donald Trump’s administration have alienated corporate sponsors across the country.
“There are many Pride Festivals across the nation that have seen very drastic drops in sponsorships, because those sponsors don’t want to be associated with DEI efforts,” Partida said. “Some of the big Prides like San Francisco and San Diego […] have seen as much as a 60% drop in some of the funding from big corporate sponsors.”
Though the DPC was turned down by two of its sponsors when planning the Davis Pride Festival, Partida said that taking a more “grassroots” approach made the event possible.
“A lot of our sponsorships come from local sources, businesses and donors in the community, and we’ve never been corporately sponsored in the classic sense,” Partida said. “Even though our fundraising is moving slowly, we’re hoping that we can make our budget.”
The Big Day in Dining event coincided with a regional event called the Big Day of Giving, a 24-hour challenge that raises funds for 855 non-profits. As part of the Big Day of Dining event, representatives from non-profits tabled from 5 to 8 p.m. to solicit last-minute donations for the Big Day of Giving.
Tracy L. Fauver, the executive director of Davis Community Meals and Housing, tabled at the event. She said that her organization, which provides food and shelter to 300 people daily, is trying to diversify its funding in the wake of budget cuts.
“A few of the purely federal programs that we’ve received money from in recent years are kind of on hold,” Fauver said. “There’s no opportunities to apply for it, as there would typically be at this time. Our annual budget is about a million dollars, and at least $100,000 a year is in jeopardy.”
Fauver said that donors have already recouped half that amount through the Big Day of Giving.
“We’re [at] a little over [$50,000], and that’s fantastic,” Fauver said. “It’s better than our organization’s ever done on the Big Day of Giving. Even though it feels a little bit like you’re in competition with other non-profits, I love the Big Day of Giving because it gives us an opportunity to get our story out and really focus on telling people about the great work that we do.”
Written By: Rory Conlon — city@theaggie.org
