The Coronado Junior Woman’s Club (CJWC) donated $15,000 each to Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) and the KMAC Foundation in March. The Coronado Junior Woman’s Club is a women-led, community-focused organization that organizes civic and educational activities in Coronado.
Those who live in Coronado know that when October rolls around, there’s a communal gathering of both locals and people crossing over the bridge for the CJWC’s “A Taste of Coronado.” With plenty of food and businesses to explore, the feel-good energy seems to permeate all over the island. But the community spirit doesn’t end with the event.
All funds raised from “A Taste of Coronado” ticket sales go back into the San Diego community through chosen organizations each year. A portion of the event’s sponsorships are also given to the selected beneficiaries. Two of the main sponsors this year included the Hotel del Coronado and McKay & Associates.
And this year, the CJWC picked two local groups to donate the majority of their funds to, among other beneficiaries.
Michelle Munns, the chair of “A Taste of Coronado,” said the hope is to support the women and children of Coronado, and broadly the San Diego community.
“The more sponsorships we get the more we can give back and that’s what it’s all about,” Munns said. “The best part is that you as a ticket holder know all of your money is going to our beneficiaries.”
Building financial self-sufficiency
STEP is a nonprofit organization that helps build financial self-sufficiency and offers financial support in times of need for junior active-duty enlisted members, discharged enlisted veterans and their families. This is accomplished through a team of licensed social workers and certified financial advisors, as well as volunteers.
“When they come up to a difficulty, whether they can’t make a car payment or their rent is overdue or their car breaks down, these things that just really [are] total crisis, that’s when we’re able to step in and really talk to them about financial future, how they can prevent this from happening again, but more importantly, we get the wolf off the door first,” Veronica Worthington, vice president of philanthropy at STEP, said. “We offer the financial grant. We take care of that crisis situation but more importantly, we really sit down and educate them on how they can prevent that situation in the future.”
STEP also does warehouse distribution events at various bases each month. There, they partner with other groups, like food banks, to offer resources to military members who might need groceries, clothing, etc.
“We are able to give to these families who are paying a lot of rent in San Diego and groceries are expensive,” Worthington said. “So if they’re able to come to these distribution events and receive some free produce, some kids’ shoes, some clothing, it just really helps out at the bottom line. It allows us to talk to them and offer our services.”
The CJWC’s donation to STEP will be used both for emergency grants to military members and their families and to stock STEP’s warehouse. Many necessary items such as mattresses, cribs and car seats must be bought or donated brand new, which can be costly to STEP. The $15,000 will go toward resourcing the military families in the best ways STEP can through their grants and outreach events, Worthington said.
Supporting KMAC’s accessible sailing
The KMAC Foundation is an organization created in honor of Kyle McArthur (KMAC), a Coronado resident and lieutenant junior grade who was involved in a fatal car crash and passed away in 2013. The Foundation was created by his father, Jamie McArthur, to provide opportunities for accessible and adaptive sailing. Jamie said Kyle was an avid sailor, so he started this outreach work in remembrance of his son.
Adaptive sailing, or para sailing, is like other parasports; they aim to make sailing participation accessible to people with disabilities.
Jamie’s dive into the para sailing world started with creating the KMAC Memorial Regatta over a decade ago.
“It’s become a real racing regatta,” Jamie said. “[The sailors have] gotten better and they want to race.”
The regatta was created in partnership with Challenged Sailors San Diego, but it is now run by the KMAC Foundation, which has been around for three years. They sail with a variety of sailboats including the Hansa 303s that can hold one to two people.
“One of the components is we have veterans who get out here and don’t know how to sail and they get to learn and be part of the social scene,” Jamie said.
From kids to adults with disabilities or those who just have never had the opportunity to be out on the water, the vision has remained the same over the years: make sailing accessible.
Now, in addition to adaptive and accessible sailing, Jamie said he also hopes to make sailing approachable for any kid who wants to try.
Jamie said the KMAC Foundation typically offers sailing lessons every other weekend at the Coronado Yacht Club.
For KMAC, the funds received from the CJWC will go toward a variety of things including boat slip rent, maintenance, boat dollies, their upcoming KMAC Memorial regatta and volunteer training. The majority of maintenance is done by Jamie and his volunteer team. Jamie said they’re always looking for more help.
“He has such a vision and such a heart for the sailing community and getting people access to it.” Munns said. “A lot of us loved that we’re helping a Coronado organization, that we could see the benefit of our money.”
KMAC is preparing for the annual KMAC Memorial Regatta happening April 26-28. And they’re offering volunteer training for the next two Saturdays (April 13 and April 20) from 12:30-3 p.m.
To learn more about STEP or the KMAC Foundation visit, https://www.teamstepusa.org/aboutus and https://kmacfoundation.com/#mission-statement.
