San Diego Small Business Relief Grant Fund Announces More Than $700,000 in Grants to San Diego Businesses

San Diego Grantmakers is pleased to announce more than $700,000 in small business relief grant funds have been awarded to 154 San Diego businesses through the San Diego Small Business Relief Grant Fund.

The funding was a collaborative effort in partnership with the City of San Diego, Cal Coast Cares Foundation, California Coast Credit Union, San Diego Grantmakers, and GoFundMe. The fund was seeded with $300,000 of support from GoFundMe, Qualcomm, and California Coast Credit Union who each contributed $100,000, and raised additional support through its GoFundMe page generating more than 170 donations.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy and continue to endure significant challenges from the global pandemic,” Christina Bibler, Economic Development director at the City of San Diego stated.

“The San Diego Small Business Relief Grant Fund brought together government, nonprofit, corporations, and individual San Diegans rallying support for small businesses who need it most. We know more is needed, and the City of San Diego has committed an additional $12.8 million to distribute to San Diego small businesses in CARES Act funds. We look forward to fulfilling the Mayor’s and City Council’s vision for assisting small businesses and thank San Diego Grantmakers for their leadership on this collaborative effort,” Bibler said.

San Diego Grantmakers managed the grantmaking for the fund and applied equity-based grantmaking principles to ensure businesses who may be overlooked by other sources of funding received precedence. The majority of grant recipients represent businesses located in low income communities, or business owners who identify as females or people of color.

“This collaborative effort leveraged the strengths of each of our organizations and couldn’t have happened without the critical support of San Diego foundations, companies and individuals. Our city is ready to rally for our small businesses and are showing up with their dollars in support of not just rebuilding, but building better,” said Debbie McKeon, president & CEO of San Diego Grantmakers.

For grant recipient Elizabeth Luqiun, the funds represent hope. Elizabeth owns and operates Mireya’s Unisex Beauty Salon in Golden Hills and her business has been significantly impacted due to COVID-19.

Read what these funds mean for her business, and other grant recipient businesses below:

For more information, please visit https://sdgrantmakers.org/san-diego-small-business-relief-grant-fund

Press Contact: Katie Janowiak

ABOUT SAN DIEGO GRANTMAKERS

San Diego Grantmakers (SDG) is a nonprofit membership organization of more than 150 organizations and individual philanthropists seeking to improve outcomes for residents of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and beyond. Through learning, cross-sector collaboration, advocacy, grantmaking, and impact investing we connect and activate funders to learn, lead, and invest in our community. San Diego Grantmakers’ vision is an equitable, collaborative, and impactful social change ecosystem that improves the lives of all residents in our region. To learn more, visit www.catalystsd.org.