At Refuge, we are fortunate to be able to support and work with organizations in our county and beyond through our donation program that started the year we opened, 2011. Annually, we give over 70 in-kind donations to organizations that use these donations to raise funds for the vital work they do in our community.
In addition to giving in-kind donations, we co-organize a Turkey Trot 5K every year with our sister business, Carmel Valley Athletic Club. The Turkey Trot raises funds for the Food Bank for Monterey County, and over the last eight years, we have raised over $40,000, which we could not have done without all our amazing participants! The Food Bank for Monterey County serves over 160 local nonprofit organizations, operating over 240 direct distributors and stocking emergency pantries & meal programs that feed approximately 15,000 people each week.
We also have a gift card program where people can choose to donate the remaining amount on their gift cards to an organization uniquely chosen each year. In the past, we've donated to Dig Deep, an organization whose goal is to bring running water to the "2 million Americans [who] still don't have running water" (Dig Deep). The current organization chosen for our gift card program is the Alzheimer's Association, which "is a non-profit American volunteer health organization which focuses on care, support and research for Alzheimer's disease" (Wikipedia).
