Friday, September 25, 2026

Pasadena Community Foundation Sets Nov. 12 Local Heroes Celebration to Honor Nonprofits, Recognize Donors

The foundation’s 27th annual celebration follows $2 million in Eaton Fire recovery grants to nonprofit partners

The Pasadena Community Foundation announced it will hold its 27th annual Local Heroes celebration Thursday, Nov. 12, at Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena, honoring local people and nonprofits and recognizing donors.

The celebration is the foundation’s yearly showcase for the nonprofits it funds in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre. In 2026, the foundation has paired its regular grant programs with $2 million in Eaton Fire recovery grants to nonprofit partners.

The foundation said the 4 to 5:30 p.m. event will include light refreshments and will recognize donors “whose generosity helps create a lasting impact across our community.”

Last year’s celebration drew nearly 250 nonprofit leaders, community partners and donors, according to the foundation.

In May, the foundation announced nearly $600,000 in capital grants to 29 Pasadena-area nonprofits, including $50,000 Capital Campaign Grants to the Sierra Madre Library Foundation and Door of Hope. The capital grants program is the largest of the 11 grant programs the foundation oversees each year. 

The foundation’s annual grantmaking to Pasadena-area nonprofits reaches more than $2.6 million, and it said it expects to grant $3 million by the end of 2026.

“Our nonprofits showed up for this community after the Eaton Fire, and many of them are still showing up every day,” said Jeannine Bogaard, who manages the foundation’s grants and scholarship programs.

In August, the foundation announced $2 million in capacity grants from its Eaton Fire Relief & Recovery Fund, giving $200,000 in flexible funding to each of 10 nonprofit partners. Recipients include Pasadena-based Union Station Homeless Services and San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity.

“As we look ahead, recovery will take years, and it must be guided by the people most affected,” Khanh Russo, the foundation’s president and CEO, said in the grant announcement. Russo joined the foundation in 2025, and Dr. Sonia Singla chairs its board.