- Sundt Foundation: The foundation awarded $19,500 in grants to 10 Tucson charities this quarter. The $3,000 award recipient was American Gold Star Mothers, Tucson Chapter. Receiving $2,000 grants each were the Arizona’s Children Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tucson, Compass Affordable Housing, Project Linus Tucson, TMM Family Services and Turn Your Life Around. The $1,500 grant recipients were Higher Ground, The Drawing Studio and YWCA of Southern Arizona. The Sundt Foundation was established in 1999 by Sundt Construction Inc. as a way for its employee-owners to give back to the communities in which they live and work. The organization is funded primarily by contributions from Sundt employees, which are matched by the company.
- Allstate: Ten Allstate agency owners and licensed sales professionals from Arizona secured a $10,000 Allstate Foundation Helping Hands grant to benefit the Tucson Center for Women and Children. Participating Allstate agency owners and licensed sales professionals include: Shannon Burke of Tucson, Debe Campos-Fleenor of Tucson, Kara Guidotti of Casa Grande, Kristi Henry of Tucson, Paulina Kalaj of Scottsdale, Beth Landreville-Hartung of Tucson, Fran Richey of Sierra Vista, Maria Ventimiglia of Tucson, Rhiannon Ward of Tucson and Jemmie Wilson of Tucson.
- BRAKEmax Car Care Centers: In honor of Veterans Day, all locations of Tucson-based BRAKEmax Car Care Centers performed 522 free oil changes for veterans and active-duty military personnel. Throughout the month of November, every BRAKEmax location also collected clothing donations for veterans, rewarding donors with $20 off their oil change.
- BBVA Compass: The BBVA Compass Foundation brought its fifth annual Project Blue Elf to John B. Wright Elementary School in Tucson earlier this month. Bank volunteers donated toys to 258 unsuspecting kindergarteners and first- and second-graders, and handed out $25 vouchers for the students to open up BBVA Compass Young Savers accounts.
- Tucson Electric Power: For the first time, TEP is serving as the title sponsor for the Winterhaven Festival of Lights. TEP is providing funding, signage and more than 200 strings of new energy-efficient LED lights. The company also deployed dozens of employees in bucket trucks to help string lights atop the neighborhood’s tallest trees. TEP’s $40,000 sponsorship helps the nonprofit organization that runs the festival pay for security, traffic control, insurance, portable bathrooms and other needs. The festival runs nightly through Dec. 26 from 6 to 10 p.m.
Giving back in Southern Arizona
Giving back in Southern Arizona
The Drawing Studio is one of 10 Tucson charities awarded grants from the Sundt Foundation.
Submit items about charitable donations by local businesses or nonprofits to business@tucson.com; please use Giving Back in the email subject line and include photos in JPEG format. Sign up for a weekly update of business headlines at
