Legislator Gives Award To Nonprofit That Mobilized COVID-19 Shots

LA MESA, CA — A San Diego health foundation that pushed for COVID-19 vaccinations received the 2021 California Nonprofit of the Year award from California state Assemblymember Akilah Weber.

Multicultural Health Foundation received the award at MacArthur Park in La Mesa for helping to raise the San Diego County vaccination rate.

The foundation had reached out particularly to African Americans in San Diego, foundation spokesperson Olivia Stafford told Patch. “The vaccination rate has been higher in San Diego County and that’s partly because of the outreach,” she said.

San Diego County urged residents last month to get vaccines after a spike in cases as the Delta variant spreads across the country. The foundation works with the county to help African Americans who are disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Their vaccine outreach campaign from September into this month tapped mass media as well as the voices of pastors and elected officials. The campaign made 2 million impressions in the first month and reached 54 million last month, the foundation said in a statement Tuesday.

Founded in 2012, Multicultural Health Foundation was established to promote multicultural health research and policies aimed at easing racial health disparities.

Over the past six years, legislators around California have chosen model nonprofits from their districts. More than 100 other nonprofits around the state received awards this year.