OUR HISTORY

As with all state departments, there were funding limitations in the California Conservation Corps. Our Corpsmembers provided a tremendous service to the people of California, but we had little to offer them beyond some skill development and the work ethic.

In order to further the development of corpsmembers, the Bud Sheble administration (1983-1991) formalized community resource development through the establishment of district community advisory boards and the integration of non-paid staff (volunteers from the community) into the staffing structure of each CCC center. This concept was, at first, disconcerting to our civil service staff. Soon, however, they began to appreciate the wealth of services and expertise available to their centers from volunteers who could mentor and assist corpsmembers with their curriculum programs.

Over time, Center directors joined service clubs and began working their contacts to benefit their respective centers. Other kinds of networking brought in donations of equipment, furniture, computers, and funding for various projects. However, contributors were not eligible for tax deductions when donating to the CCC, a state department.

Establishing the Foundation

In order to provide a tax deduction for contributors, our administration established the non-profit CCC Foundation as an entity that could receive the donations in support of CCC centers, then pass these tax deductible donations on to the centers as designated by the donors.

Establishing the Foundation by the CCC was somewhat precarious. Governor George Deukmejian, who greatly supported the CCC, said that CCC employees did not that the right to expend taxpayerâs money in support of any non-profit organization. Our efforts, therefore, had to be voluntary and outside of employment. We did just that.

Sheble asked CCC Deputy Director, Ann Malcolm, who was also an attorney, to draft the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (on her own time). In this process, she met with the executive director of the very successful State Parks Foundation, which had been in existence for a number of years, had a staff, a budget and operating procedure - all of which we looked at and considered in setting up the CCC Foundationâs documents.

With the CCC Foundation bearing the CCCâs name, which was important so that donors would be confident of the Foundationâs purpose, we did not want to do anything that could be perceived that did not maintain the line of separation as insisted by the Governor. For that reason, we wrote an MOU that specified how the Foundation and the department would interact. This MOU can be found within the Foundationâs files.

Finally, the CCC Foundation was incorporated May 24, 1988 / State Corporation Number 1614151 / Employer ID Number 68-0160977.

Operating the CCC Foundation

The Board of Directors was established at the time of incorporation. Its first membership consisted of five individuals: Irvin Chapman, Russell Collier, B.T. Collins, Joseph Berney, and George Fenimore.

The first meeting of the Board was held on March 11, 1988, in the business office of Irvin C. Chapman. Chapman was elected Chairman, B.T. Collins as Secretary, and Joseph Berney as Treasurer. Russell Collier had agreed to serve on the board only until the Foundation was established. He was not present at the first meeting, and shortly following the incorporation date, he resigned from the board. A new member, Jim Looney, was added to take Collier? place. At this first meeting, a photo was taken of the board members, including Foundation organizer Bud Sheble and CCC Chief Deputy Director Lisa Louie.

A CCC Foundation logo was designed by the firm of Ray McNally & Associates, and stationery was printed utilizing a post office box address.

Sheble and Collins approached the accounting firm of Dipenbrock, Wulff, Plant and Hannegan for pro-bono accounting services. They agreed, and Brian T. Regan was assigned to maintain financial records of receipts and disbursements, and to prepare and file necessary tax and information returns. Mr. Regan later left the Diepenbrock firm, but has continued on his own to donate the accounting services.

The Foundation was now in place and operating, none to soon for CCC centers. Contributions began flowing in, and the Foundation began providing its intended purpose of distributing the designated gifts to the centers.

In order to have its own funding to pay costs, Foundation board members began to solicit contributions from corporations, such as Chevron, who provided the first gift of $15,000. Soon, the Foundation coffers had its own funding from which it could pay its bills and grant funds for various purposes to the centers.

Expanding the CCC Foundation

When the Governor?s administration changed and Governor Pete Wilson moved into this office, Sheble left his Governor?s appointed position as CCC Director. Nearly two years passes before a permanent director replaced him. During this interim, Sheble kept the Foundation functioning. Needed next was to expand the board with additional individuals who could strengthen the Foundation and build up its funding ability.

Al Aramburu became the next CCC Director under the Wilson Administration. He was very motivated to take the Foundation to the next level, and the torch was passed to him.

Aramburu recruited new board members who shared his and his predecessorsâ enthusiasm for promoting the CCC. He was able to attract successful people to the board, reenergizing the Foundation. Rose Guilbault of KGO-TV in San Francisco, Cindy Laubacher of the Wilke Fleury law firm in Sacramento, Kevin OâRourke, City Manager of Buena Park and later Fairfield. Ruben Mendez, consultant who served on the Pacific Bays non-profit Board, Doug Martin of Firemanâs Fund Insurance Companies, Dave Crockett, sportswear executive, Dan Isaacson of the Sony Corporation and Brian Regan, Sacramento attorney with the Knox law firm joined the Board, bringing their expertise and dedication to the mission. These new Directors joined Irv Chapman, who was one of the earliest Board members. The Board also hired Susan DeMars as a consultant, who served as Executive Director. During the latter part of the 1990âs, the CCC Foundation secured numerous grants from AT&T, Hearst Corporation, Trimble Corporation, Pacific Lumber and numerous other organizations.

For the past few years, the Foundation has played a major role in sponsoring the annual Unity Games, which bring together corps members from around the state to play in what they consider the CCC Olympic Games.

The Board of Directors, with Doug Martin, Board President at the time playing a key role, sponsored two regional job-training seminars that combined private and public partners.

The $600,000 grant obtained from the Packard Foundation in September 1999, for wetlands restoration is certainly one of the most significant achievements of the CCC Foundation in the 20th century.

After several board retreats and annual meetings, the CCC Foundation has matured into an effective non-profit board dedicated to furthering the educational, training and health objectives of the CCC.