TUCSON, Ariz. (March 31, 2021) — Social Venture Partners (SVP) Tucson celebrates a record-breaking 6th Annual Fast Pitch event. Through a historical level of ticket sales and donations received, SVP Tucson was able to gift a record $105,000 of on-stage awards to local nonprofit organizations serving the greatest need here in Tucson. During the event, the community showed up to show their support with $59,762 in donations. To top it off, the Connie Hillman Family Foundation matched an additional $50,000, making this year’s impact into the nonprofit community a grand total of $214,762.
“This year’s Fast Pitch event was record-breaking and historical in every way,” said Ciara Garcia, CEO at SVP Tucson. “We absolutely could not have done this without our community partners, and we hope they understand the magnitude of their support to these nonprofits,” Garcia said.
Through these partnerships, SVP Tucson was able to triple resources going to local nonprofits in the Fast Pitch program and featured the highest number of on-stage participants in SVP Tucson’s Fast Pitch history.
Fast Pitch 2021 is focused on nonprofits that support people experiencing adversity due to COVID-19, serve historically marginalized and under-resourced communities, and who actively work to promote social justice, including racial and gender justice. The 10 participating nonprofits are: Boys to Men, JobPath, Make Way for Books, Therapeutic Riding of Tucson, Sunnyside Foundation, YWCA of Southern Arizona, TMM Family Services, Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson, Native Music Coalition, and Second Chance Tucson.
Fast Pitch is an 18-week long training program designed to help nonprofits build meaningful relationships, gain resources, and become more resilient. The centerpiece event took place on March 11, 2021 with Arizona Illustrated Host, Tom McNamara, as the emcee. Fast Pitch participants will continue to receive training and support for weeks to come.
The event was live streamed from Tech Parks Arizona and featured a special message from Associate Vice President, Carol Stewart, who challenged the Tucson business community to match UA Tech Park’s $1,000 donation to Fast Pitch.“I see so much potential in this arena. To come together, unite forces and accelerate the impact,” said Stewart. “We need to work together to create innovation solutions to the challenges we face as a community, and this Fast Pitch class represents those solutions,” Stewart said.
For more information about SVP Tucson and the Fast Pitch program, visit www.svptucson.org.