Since our founding in May 2013 we stood up a volunteer police squad, demolished dozens of hazardous buildings and structures, and cleaned up empty lots throughout Mojave – and we did it with absolutely NO MONEY! Imagine what we can do with resources to back up our big plans. This year we are actively raising money for the first time, to execute a solar streetlight project downtown. We are committed to 100% transparency and provide investors with regular status updates and financial expenditures.

The Mojave Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, officially registered with the IRS and California Franchise Tax Board (EIN 46-2946214), and any donation to the Foundation is tax deductible.  We are also an approved GUIDESTAR SILVER MEMBER. If you like what The Mojave Foundation does for the community of Mojave, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. You can donate safely and securely through PayPal by clicking the “Donate” button below, or contact us to learn about other ways to contribute.

  (via PayPal)

*NEW* You can now also donate through Amazon Smile.  Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to The Mojave Foundation.  Read more about the Amazon Smile giving program here.

Major funding priorities include:

1. Install solar-powered public lighting in our downtown area. Every day our children walk to school and back in the middle of the streets –mostly in the dark during winter months. Six pedestrians were killed by vehicles in Mojave since 2014, including an elderly couple, a mother of four, and a young girl on her way to school. We also had over 80 break-ins and cars stolen in 2016 – mostly in poorly lit areas of the community. We will partner with Kern County to install 50 solar powered lights throughout every street in downtown Mojave, to keep our children safe in a way that minimizes light pollution, is environmentally-friendly, and 100% sustainable. Kern County has agreed to install the lights for free and maintain the lights for the life of the project.

2. Build community parks and gardens. According to the USDA, Mojave is in a “food desert”, meaning we have both low income and low access to nutritious foods, fruits and vegetables. Many residents walk to the local liquor store or gas station for groceries. We want to install a series of community gardens in our downtown area for the entire community to come together and promote healthy eating cultural development and sustainability. We also want to construct a green space and barrier between residents and the Union Pacific railroad which passes through Mojave.

3. Demolish & build new homes. There are 480 homes downtown, 80% of which are owned by out-of-town investors, and many are unfit for occupancy. This undermines a sense of pride and ownership in the community, and consequently large sections of our community have fallen into disrepair, drugs and crime. We want to partner with housing developers and other nonprofit organizations like Habitat for Humanity to acquire properties in targeted sections of town, and rebuild healthy, green, thriving communities.

4. What do you want us to focus on this year? While we must remain faithful to the vision established by the community, we respond quickly and efficiently to the funding priorities of our donors. Please fill out the short form below to let us know what you would like us to focus on this year.