Arts and Culture Commission - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening. Today is Thursday, 03/05/2026. This is the regular meeting of the Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission, and this is a hybrid meeting. The meeting will be recorded And for members of the public wishing to address the Parks and Recreation Commission on Zoom, the Zoom application Someone did it you want me to do that. Will notify you that this meeting is being recorded. Please press continue on the Zoom application to stay in the meeting. I would like at this point to call to order the meeting of the Parks and Recreation. Alright. Once again, thank you, and welcome to the 03/05/2025 Routine Parks and Recreation Commission meetings.

I will now call the meeting to order. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Tamarupam?

Here.

Commissioner Sripen? Here. Commissioner Stanik? Here. Vice Chair Bono?

Here.

Chair Swamy? For the record, chair Swamy is absent.

Thank you, staff. The first item of business, the approval of the minutes. I'd like to know if any of the commissioners would like to make a motion to approve the 11/06/2025 Personal Recreation Commission meeting minutes.

I'll move to approve for November. Second that. Perfect. Thank you.

Alright. So can I have a roll call?

Absolutely. Commissioner Kumarukong?

Oh, I'll abstain as I was absent.

Okay. So abstain?

Yeah. Abstain.

Commissioner Srikin? I approve. Commissioner Stanig? Yes. Vice Chair Bono? Yes. Chair Swamy is absent. Motion carries with Commissioner Markham abstain.

Perfect. And I would like to go ahead and approve also the 12/04/2025. Looking for a motion to approve the meeting minutes.

I can approve. I can make the motion.

Perfect. And a second?

I can second.

Okay. Perfect.

You have

a copy, please. I was absent on that too. Yeah. So I'm checking to see that.

Commissioner Kumar Khan?

I think I was absent for that too. So I'll abstain.

And Commissioner X-ray? Commissioner

Stanik? Abstain.

Vice chair Bonham?

Yes.

Since we have two abstentions and two people who voted yes, the motion doesn't carry. Okay. Sorry.

Perfect.

No. I didn't think it was.

Alright. Is there any postponements? No. Postpone is perfect. Forward communication. This portion of the meeting is reserved for person wishing to address the commission on any matter within the jurisdiction of the commission and not on the agenda. Speakers are limited to three minutes. In most cases, they probably prohibit the commission from making any decision with respect to a matter not on the agenda. Do we have any oral communications?

We have no speakers in person and no hands raised.

All right. So I will close the order of communication, and we'll move into old business. Yep. Okay. All right. New business of the day. Subject is selection of the chair and the vice chair selection. And recommended action, conduct the selection of the chair and the vice chair. All right. Is there anyone who would like to make a motion?

Order? Point of order, would you like me to go through the process? Yes, please. Okay. What we'll do is we'll call for a motion, and then whoever is nominated at motion slash nomination, whoever is nominated would accept that. And then we would look for a second to that. We'll open for discussion and then go to vote unless there is a substitute motion. That would be if somebody else was nominated and an acceptance and a second and discussion. If we have that substitute motion, we'll vote on that motion first, and then that's how the order would go. So it's the process. Perfect.

Thank you.

Yeah. Can I can I unlock the motion? So since Sami is not here, can I make a motion to push this to the next this agenda icon for the next month? No. Make a motion. No. This has to happen.

It has to be happened today. Yes.

Is that

Make a motion for We still have we still have the quorum. Yeah. You can make a motion. Can make a motion.

I can still make a motion to move this to the next month.

Zero second. So but so because she was a chair, I'm thinking she should be there. Last time last year, I was not there. I was leaving. I felt it bad. So I'm still I feel that it's we should be fair that we should do it when everyone is there. So I will second your motion. Yeah.

Yeah. I didn't know that she's not gonna be there.

Yeah. So

That's that's what I would say.

That it's fair to have everyone present. Right? Because last year, I missed it. I felt bad on that.

I agree.

Yeah. That's that's my motion. We can focus on the other things now. But it has No.

Have a motion in a second.

I have a question.

So Do we have going for the roll call. Discussion? Oh, discussion. Discussion. Well Like, you were not here indeed last year, but in all fairness to the chair, she was the chair. So we're going to put so it's like putting a dent on the moving forward because I'm just saying stallings. Personally, that's me. Because at the end of the day, a new election would happen regardless.

Well, today, the new election has to happen?

Yes. I don't There.

It's not. It's it's an agenda, but I'm I'm making a motion to push it out in the next month so that Right.

Right. Right. I don't like the motions discussions. Yep.

I'd like to make a comment.

Please go ahead.

I'd like to go ahead with it tonight. I think as we were told, the chair had the opportunity to participate remotely. And for whatever reason, she didn't take us up on that. And we have a very important meeting tonight. Think we should move forward and and vote on a chair and and a vice chair and and move forward on that.

So what you could do is provide a substitute motion.

Oh, well oh, so my substitute motion would

be to nominate Claudio Bono as chair.

Motion would be to whether you're moving forward voting tonight. Oh. Well, I could just So your substitute motion, I believe, to

Is move forward tonight. Correct.

Okay. So that's your substitute motion. I'll second that. K. Now you'd open that for discussion.

Yeah. I hear what you're saying. I hear what everyone's saying. I just don't feel like it's fair for the Parks and Recreation to Baldwin. It was still going to be regardless a change within

I think No.

Ahead. Go

One more comment is, I know, Sheila, last year you weren't here. You had just been appointed. And I know that that was a very quick turnaround for you. And so I completely understand why

Yeah.

People would be there.

More than that.

Yeah. Right.

But here

we are.

Okay. It's like honoring a tradition. Yeah. It does.

Okay.

Alright. So what does it now? That means it's called nullified, so it has to go So you

had so if you're closing the discussion on the item Closing the discussion. Still go to public comment. So you would check-in on public

public comments on that act?

We have no speakers,

Chair. Okay. Perfect. So let's move Now, moving substitute motion.

You would move to a vote on the substitute motion.

Yeah.

Commissioner Kumar Kwan?

What is the substitution? So I didn't Yeah.

Could you restate the Lindsey, could you restate what they're voting on?

The substitute is not to postpone the elections.

Okay. That's no.

Sure.

Commissioner Srivastava?

I think it makes sense to move right there. Move ahead with this election today because, you know, it doesn't move.

Yeah. We can work.

Yes. Let's go with it.

Commissioner Scannick?

Yes.

Vice chair Bonham?

Yes. Yeah. And, yeah, we can Right.

The motion carries with commissioner Kumar Ponjoli now.

Yes. Go ahead.

I'd like to make a motion for Claudia Bono to become our chair.

Can

I also make do you accept that

Why do I accept? Yeah.

Can I also make a motion? Okay.

It's substitute motion Yeah. On this motion? Yeah.

I know you were always taking you want if you as long as you are available and not missing meetings, I want to invite and nominate you if you are

off of it.

Sure. I'm I'm sorry. Nominate for what?

Send for the chair.

Okay. So we have a substitute motion.

Can I

reject? Okay. We have an a motion to nominate. We have an acceptance. Do we have a second on that not that first motion? Second that Okay. So we have that. Now we have a substitute motion. Nominate the Okay. And

then do

accept it?

Okay.

And I can second that too. Right?

Okay. Now you open for discussion?

Sorry. Who's the discussion?

That motion, the original motion?

Michelle Park.

The

the vice chair motion.

Okay. Yeah.

With this one?

Because there's two motion. I

Right. Okay. That's what

I'll do. So now

you have discussion on the substitute motion.

So so I felt that we I know. I knew I'm not ready to take up chair, so I decided to nominate myself. However, I want to try vice chair this time. I've been in that library. But for chair, you guys have taken already some position. Vice chair, you have been there. Vice chair, you have been chair, and has been the chair. And commissioner I know commissioner Kumar Pan attends a lot of part while you are here. I know know last past few months you had changed some language. You have been so involved in all the things.

So I thought that, you know, you will be a great I I mean, you should be taking care of opportunity to do that so we can take turns. All of us can take turns and bring in some ideas.

Appreciate it. Yeah. Alright. Are we close okay. Go ahead.

So my comment on that is, as I said last year, participation and attendance is really important to me. I think Claudio has shown his dedication to being here. He's been the vice chair this year, and I think he's shown that he can be the chair. I know that commissioner Kamarcan has been chair before and before when he was on Parks and Rec. And and I think

you could

be a great vice chair if you're willing to step into that. So I do think participation is important. And I understand that sometimes family is more important, and those are the priorities. But I think vice chair Bono has has earned this.

Thank you. Is there any more discussions?

Yeah. I'll I'll make a comment. I think the the absenteeism, I don't want that to be called out as the disqualified or the not kind of qualification because as I said, the the last two meetings, specifically one I should have attended, I left it on the same day because of urgency at the family in India. It's not locally. I'm sitting here and absent. So you wanna I just came back last night from India. So I'm still on July. So Oh. I had to go back to India again to care of my parents. So I think that's not, but I think I said I I do put enough time and effort on this cap for the.

So I sincerely respect her nomination to whatever she said. So but, yeah, going forward, I will be continually attending it. It's not unless there was any emergency calls out. So I don't want that to be as a this quality factor to be nominated for the chair. So I just wanna put it

in clear conditions. So Any more discussions on this?

That's I just wanna clarify that.

Let's move into the Public. Comment. Thank you.

We have this chair.

All right. We'll close, four comments on that, and we'll move with the roll call. And I would like to, if you could, please reiterate what the motion is.

The motion is to

nominate her with all his chair.

Right?

Are you

ready for a second.

Is it We

can ready to yeah. That's the

It's already It's always a substitute.

It's always substituting. Oh, I see.

Okay. Good. Yeah.

Okay. We're ready to vote. Mhmm.

Commissioner Kumarapan?

Yeah.

Commissioner Sriken? Commissioner Stanik? No. Vice Chair Bono?

No. It's okay.

Motion fails with Commissioner Stanik and Vice Chair Bono voting no.

Okay. Now we go. I think That's the other original motion. The original motion. The original motion.

Would you like to rediscuss the original motion before we're moving to roll call?

Sure. The original motion is to nominate vice chair chair.

Okay. Let me one other comment is that this is the last year of commissioner Bono's term. That's true. And so there's not gonna be another opportunity.

Sure. And I made sure

I'm not

But I also feel that I am scared if you don't have enough you know, if you don't attend enough meetings, but anyways, out of the home, this

is not

what this is about.

No. No. Like, to give him fair opportunity Mhmm. The app like, marking absent to the meeting shouldn't be impacting this decision. Right? Because he was still within the limit of but where I've seen the commission Kumarapan is he has attended all of the documents. I've seen him taking pictures. He's so involved in all parts and rights. He never asked rudimentary questions. Right? Like, he I mean, he was on top of other activities as well. I definitely much more than what I contribute he has contributed. I've seen him on the field. So that is why I went with commission

who comes I feel No. I understand. Yeah.

Thank you. No. I think appreciate it.

I I I would like to just say one word before we're moving to that thing. I I understand everyone's position. I think, personally, I may be very fashioned as a vice chair. It's a complete lock that to be chair, period. At the end of the day, regardless of however our own individual lives are, I do have a 100% attendance record, and I travel the world as well. And I know if something would happen to my family, I would not want it to be held against me. I fully understand. But, yeah, just my last chair here. It wouldn't make sense to be chair. So if no one else has anything to say, I'd like to close the motion the discussion, and we go back to the motion at play.

Commissioner McMahon?

No. Can you restate the

Yeah.

There's voting motion?

So the motion is to nominate vice chair Bono as chair.

Okay. Yeah. Speaking. Right?

And now we're going to the vote.

Okay. No.

Commissioner Shrikanth?

I I don't see no.

Commissioner Stanik? Yes. Vice chair Bono?

Yes.

The motion fails that commissioner Stanick and vice chair Bono voting yes.

Now we'll ask direction to staff to what's next.

I don't think it'll

It's gonna nominate. Great. Gotcha.

Close enough.

So you get your way.

Yeah. Or do you want to do the vice chair?

Yeah. I'm gonna do the vice chair. Because it is the next item on the agenda. Okay. Oh, I see. Yeah.

So we would need to postpone before we move on to the vice chair?

Yeah. We can make the vice chair now.

Okay. So

they can make another motion.

Wait. Okay.

Let's try that again.

That's our so political.

Okay.

So political.

It's You can go

function. Yeah.

We have to stay with decorum with the meeting. Yes. But we can make another motion to vote go to another vote. We can make another motion. Or you can go on to you can make a motion to postpone and then move on to the vice chair.

So can we have the discussion open? I'll move up before making a motion. And

then you would go to discussion on it.

I will I'll make a motion to move with the vice chair nomination. That's how we make a motion. Oh, no? How does that work? Sorry. I I missed it.

You can make another motion for chair to for chair. So another nomination and go to go to discussion and the vote again. Or you can make a motion to postpone. And then if you do that, then the next item would and you would vote on that, and then then you would move to the next item, which is the vice chair.

Oh, okay. Yeah. I'll make a motion to postpone it to the next meeting, the task selection.

I'll second.

K. K. You ready to go

vote? Yes.

So doesn't need to restate what the motion is. Here we are.

Vote for shares in the next meeting.

Okay. And don't start the vote. Now you discuss.

Here we are. We got two and two unless somebody wants to change their vote. We'll postpone, and we'll roll the dice for next time.

Okay. And you open public comment?

We have already opened the public comment for this item.

For this motion? Don't need to open it for every motion. We just need to Gotcha.

Okay. So now we go to vote.

Commissioner Gaborapal?

Yes.

Commissioner Srikin? Yes. Commissioner Stanik? Yes. Vice Chair Bono?

Yes.

Motion carries unanimously.

Shoot. So sorry

about that.

And my sense of that

Can can I make a motion on the vice chair as well?

Yeah. Can you make a motion?

I would like

No. No. Hold on. Let's

Vice chair Bono will go to the next item, so you'll state the item.

Got it. Okay. We're now opening the part action. Subject will be to select a vice chair for the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the recommended action is to conduct the selection. So who wants to make a motion?

I'll I'll make a motion to make Sheila being the vice chair.

You can I have a form or accept?

No. I wanted to make a motion before commission Sorry.

He already leaks out a motion. In the end, we have to do a substitute motion. I'll just accept.

Accept that. No. Yeah.

Can I make a discussion before that accepting?

You say you mean you mean?

And the next thing is do you accept or not accept? Okay.

Or do you make a substitute option?

Okay. Well, accept or not accept?

Right. But do you accept or not accept?

Okay. For this week, I will not accept because it makes sense to push it out in case once you become chair, while the other one can become vice chair. Okay. So Motion out there. Motion

That's it. Perfect.

Alright. Is there another motion

to make advice?

You should

made the same motion.

Like me. Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. Right? Because they are up there in any case. Both of them are competing for chair. Right. And if one becomes the chair, other can become the vice chair. So that's an

accept, not accept. And then if it's accepted, then you'd look for a second motion, and then you would discuss. Try not

to discuss.

Okay. We don't have to discuss that.

Okay. So is that an acceptance or non acceptance? Non acceptance for the So it's a

for vice chair.

Non acceptance. Yeah. Okay. So we don't have a second because there's not an exception.

Yeah.

It depends on

the decision. So now we'll make an option to postpone the vice chair position to the next agenda setting. So moved.

K. And then we have a second.

Second. Commissioner

scattled scattled. Seconded.

Nominated. Commissioner Standing seconded. Correct? K. Discussion?

K. And then we don't need to go to public comment, or this is a new agenda item?

Correct.

We use all the same items, so we only need you to

go to public comment once.

Gotcha. We're really good about public comment. Teen commission. We open it a lot. Okay. So now we would go to a vote.

Right. Commissioner? Yes. Commissioner Scalia? Yes. Commissioner Stanick? Yes. Mr. Aragona?

Yes.

Chair Swamy is absent. The motion carries the hand. Miss Lee.

All right. Now on the next subject item, the fiscal year twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven community funding grants application and program evaluation process. And the recommended action is to review the fiscal year twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven community funding grant application and Program Evaluation Process.

I'd like to introduce Jacinta Liang, management analyst, and her staff report on the process. You.

Good evening, vice chair and fellow commissioners. My name is Jasmine Tling, management analyst in Parks and Recreation. So today, I will be the only one working on the item. But before we begin, for complete transparency, I need to ask if any commissioners have affiliation with any of the applicant organizations tonight. And if so, can you speak now?

I'll speak. I'm a member of Rotary, but I'm not in leadership, so I will not accuse myself.

I'm also on the Rotarian.

Any other relations? No. On tonight's community funding meeting, I will give a quick summary of this year's received applications and then invite the organizations that took the details about their funding request. And applicants will have three minutes for their presentations, and the commissioners can then ask clarifying questions after. We are estimating a maximum of ten minutes per organization, which includes And after the organizational presentations, I will go over the eligibility and evaluation process where the evaluation discussion will take place next month at the April Parks and Recreation meeting.

So

this year, we received 22 applications, 14 new applicants, and eight returning applicants. We'll plan for a quick five to ten minute break after the new applicant and returning applicant presentations. And organizations in attendance, when I introduce your slide, please come up to the front of, the front of the table in the conference room and be prepared to speak. I will then share your submitted presentation on the screen, and there will be a one minute and thirty minutes or thirty second three minutes are almost done. And after your presentation, the clinical nurse will ask any clarifying questions.

When the question and answer session is complete, you may leave the conference room, and I will introduce the next organization. So we'll get started with the organization presentations now.

He's off. He may head to

the on deck bench and get ready

to see this.

Can stand. There

are. So our student applicant is Blue Leaf Labs. They are a new applicant and requesting funding for their OsmoFlux project. They are $750.

Perfect. My name is Rohan. I'm here

on behalf of the labs. So Everyone ready?

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Rohan Agarwal. I'm a tenth grader in Monte Vista High School, and I'm the founder of Blue Leaf Labs, an environmental energy and research nonprofit based here in Cupertino. In Cupertino, we get our drinking water from Santa Clara County Valley Water, and they've listed seawater reverse osmosis desalination as one of their future water sources in their 2021 water supply master plan. However, desalination generates highly concentrated brine, and its disposal is of environmental concern and economic cost for our taxpayers.

That's why I'm developing Ausmafloods, a model and educational platform to recover energy from desalination, grind, and deplete its concentration. Next slide. So this is what OsmoFlux does. First, I'm building a computational model of this technology, the reverse electrodialysis, to generate energy from desalination brown. I'll be evaluating it using real plant conditions using published Valley Water desalination data, and I'll identify where energy is viable and where it isn't.

I'll also be constructing a physical reverse electroanalysis prototype on a benchtop in a home lab. I'll validate its measurement using the computational model, and I'll turn it into a hands on demonstration tool for classrooms. Finally, I'll make sure my results are public and open to all residents of Cupertino and develop educational materials for students and educators to learn more about the water energy nexus and desalination. Next slide. Here's where my requested $750 goes.

The majority fit is into actually building my physical prototype demonstration with $75 for contingency. I'm requesting half my budget from the city. I've already received $220 from my school's research class, $530 from my personal and family sources. In fact, the city's funding will help me develop my prototype. Thanks.

Here's what Cupertino gets back. Firstly, open research data for any Cupertino resident to use. Second, a classroom demonstration and educational materials related to the water energy nexus for environmental science, engineering, or chemistry classrooms. Next, I'll be presenting my findings at community events such as the FUHSD Climate Collective's annual Earth Day and other local venues. And finally, I'll make sure that my analysis stays local and relevant using Valley Water's published numbers. Our water is our problem. Our environments is our biggest concern. Osmo clocks make sure that those two concerns meets in energy, education, and beyond. Thank you.

Thank you. Perfect.

Thank you so much for your time. Do any of you guys have any questions?

We're gonna open the floor to commissioners. We'll start with commissioner Stanick and then commissioner Kamarapan.

Hi. Thank you for the presentation. Sounds very interesting. In your application, you stated the project duration was September '25 to May '26. Have you already started your research, and is this already ongoing?

Developing a computational model. However, I'm unable to get access to certain materials that I need for the physical prototype specifically because I lack funding. Again, I managed to get about half of my funding secured through external sources. However, in order for my prototype to become a reality and a powerful demonstration tool, I really need funding.

I guess one follow-up question is if you were aware that this grant is for the next fiscal year of the city's budget, which doesn't start until July. And so I'm very concerned that you're our first applicant tonight, but I think there are a number of applicants that have time frame that don't necessarily match with the funding period. So I just wanted to clarify that.

Perfect. Yeah. I think my research is definitely going to be ongoing. I think this is a technology that needs to be explored possibly in future years. Membrane technologies will become more efficient. Prices will drop. So I think it's really a multiyear experience, and I definitely foresee, especially in July, I will be working on making this better. Thank you. Commissioner from Airsoft.

Good good catch up. So I think that that's maybe I have two questions. One, how does this directly help cooperating our residents or students? And the competition model is okay once you get the prototype. How does it help?

So there's an area of science, environmental science, known as the water energy nexus. This involves technology such as desalination, osmotic energy generation, etcetera. And I found that in the environmental science classrooms today, especially in Cupertino, education about the water energy nexus is lacking. So I hope to use my physical prototype and the associated learnings and findings from it to help better educate both students and teachers that the water energy nexus exists, and it's impacting us on a day to day basis.

Okay. Yours will be a tool in the classrooms. Yes. That's fantastic. The second question is, do you plan to partner with I know you're in Montalus, but the other high school students are the answer because you can take it to the next level. Do you have a plan to partner with others to share and take it to the next level because it's only a first step? Do you have any plans?

Currently, my plan involves starting in Monte Vista, and then I definitely plan to extend it to other schools such as, you know, Homestead, Fremont, in our district. But then I think, potentially, I think De Anza and possibly even West Valley College, if that's in scope, is a really, really good option because I've actually taken some of their environmental science courses, and I think a demonstration such as this would be very useful.

Awesome. Thank you, Vikas.

Thank you, Nishanth. Yeah.

And is this a solo project? Are you doing it by yourself, or do you have a team of people from one

of the stuff? As of now, it's only me working on this project. However, my organization may scale to this specific project to outside individuals as well.

Thank you. Any more question? No. Thank you for your presentation. We're sincerely appreciate you being here and tuning in.

Thank you so much, all commissioners, for your time. Have a wonderful rest of

your day.

You can take Alright.

Staff, introduce the presenter for the next

local minds, will you please proceed to the on deck waiting area outside of the conference room, and we will invite our next presenter, Teams So Teams Talk is a new applicant, so they are requesting funding $450 for their CooperTeams. GotLabs program.

Thank you for being here. The floor is yours. Thank you. Good night, everyone. My name is Bishan Hu, and I'm a freshman at Lindbergh High School. It is my honor to be here to present our grant for the twenty twenty six Cooper Teens Goddess event, which is founded by TeensTalk Foundation. First of all, who is TeensTalk? TeensTalk is a nonprofit founded by local high school students, and TeensTalk started from a teens comedy club. Our mission is to create fun events for teenagers and advocate for teen voices to be heard. 2025 was the first year that we held the Cooper Teens Got event.

With great help from Cooper Teens Got it was a big success. There were five local high schools, 22 performances, and 300 more attendees. The Cooper Teens Got Last event was held at the Cupertino Community Hall at the November. Based on audience feedback, we are planning to make it an annual event and make it even better from 2026. Now let's move on to the 2026 event budget forecast.

In 2025, our total spending was $350. In 2026, we are predicting a total budget of $900, and our requested grant is 50% of that, which is $450. Thank you so much for your attention, and thank you so much for considering to help Cooper Tino's teams to have more fun. Any questions? Questions from the commissioners?

Yeah. I think I have one question. He already answered part of it. The only one question, maybe I have two questions. One is related. How many overall do you expect in the future here? Because sorry. If you go back on to it, the number of people that attend the first one yeah. It says 300 plus attendees right now, right, in 2025. In the projection, you're you're trying to spend more. That means you're projecting that more attendees will be there from the high schools. Do you have any projection how many you're gonna double? 600 or people are On

high schools or attendance?

Attendees in general. So I thought attendees are high school students. It's not.

Oh, can you repeat that?

Is attendees are high school students or in public or

general public? Anyone in general or

Oh, parents. Oh, I see. Yeah. And do you expect that to be doubled? That's why you are asking for more funding? Okay?

That's it.

That's right. Go ahead.

Well, I'll I'll ask a question. If you go back to the '25 and '26 comparison on the cost, it looks like the mayor that you were granted the venue for free last year. And so

that does contribute

lot to the increase in your costs.

Yes.

And so it seems

that Oh, I see. Sorry.

Is it true? I got mistake. Yeah. In form of a question that, basically, this would help you get there because the costs are higher because of the primarily, it's

the venue.

Yeah. Primarily.

K. Thank you, Todd.

Thanks,

K. Thank you. Thank you so much for your presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Can we please have the next presenter?

Thank you, Douglas. Please proceed to the on deck waiting area outside the conference room. And next, I will invite Colorful Minds. They are a new applicant to sustain funding $1,500 for our workshops for neurodivergent children.

Good evening, applicants. Just wanted to remind you, you have three minutes for your presentation. Our staff will also show you when you are closer to the time being off. So the floor is yours. Good luck.

Good evening, commissioners. We are. My name is Caitlin.

My name is Colleen.

My name is Nicole. I'm Emma. And I'm Sarah.

The next slide. So a little

bit about our organization. We are a five zero one c three certified nonprofit organization that is aimed at providing a safe space for neurodivergent children through creative self expression, specifically through different mediums of art. Next slide.

So our workshops, we host every Sunday at the Coker Tatum Library. But every month, we also attend PACE workshops where we partner with PACE or Pacific Autism Education Center, is a nonprofit organization that also helps children and adults with autism. But our normal workshops, we we never really have class schedules, but instead, we let the children come in and we let them choose what a time activity they want to do. So because we value their interests, their values, and their preferred way of expressing themselves creatively. So we do painting, sculpting, coloring, scratch art, doodling, and we want them.

Next slide.

So in addition to our workshops, we also host and attend events. Just some examples of events we have hosted is, like, the artworks for Christmas, which is our competition that I've hosted. Another one is a recent community event in which we cohosted, like, a board game day with some of our volunteers in conjunction with our usual Sunday workshop. We've also attended a couple resource fairs. One, for example, is the San Andreas Regional Center Superhero Summer Festival. And there, we just engage with our community, share about our organization. But we also offer face painting as well as our teachings, and any money made from these resource fairs goes towards funding our workshop materials.

So what are our funding be used for? So a majority of our funding will be used for the materials and equipment used during our creative workshop. For example, things like acrylic paint, canvas, and fondling tape. Around $1,200 will be allocated for these art materials. Something else that our funding will be used for is renting the rooms and venues. For example, the Cupertino Library and also other, like, rooms and venues for other events like we mentioned previously. And around $300 will be allocated towards.

Some additional info, all of our volunteers are high school students, and we handle everything, such as the finance, teaching, promotion, etcetera. We're based in Cupertino library, but we don't have an exact number of students who are Cupertino residents because we don't take that data from them. But we do know that they are from around the Cupertino area. And we've only received money from donations from parents and students and from the money that we receive from fairs and festivals. Festivals.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you. I'll make the floor for commissioners. Any questions? Commissioner Kumarapil? Yeah.

So I have two quick questions. One is, I think in the application you mentioned, there are 34 participant. Right? In number of participants. Yeah. So 34. That's in twenty twenty five. So if it exceeds one, so do you have enough volunteers in yours without the amount

Yes.

In your organization?

So what happens during our workshops is that the students can, like, sign up depending on their, like, own time and whether they're available. So it's not like a set class where, like, they have to come in every workshop. It's whenever they have time. So usually, we have around, like, seven students at a time, and then we have volunteers helping them out form one on one.

Oh, not 34 at the same time?

No. Not 35 at the same time.

Okay. And how do they second question is, how do they really know, especially the neuro children, right, in Cupertino specifically? I know you don't take that count. But how do you really make it a point that they get to know that this one? Because there are many people I personally know. I went to Cooperna High School and other areas when I go and work with them. There are many. How how do you really promote? Because you don't know how many how many Cupertino residents or the kids from Cupertino. But how what are the mechanism you communicate that you have such workshops? So the what

is your question? Because I'm getting lost.

Do have No. I said what are the communication mechanisms that this particular program exist to to the Cupertino residents? How do they find?

Yeah. So we started off with just knowing a couple of, like, parents who are on our calendar, and they start coming to our workshops. And really, it's just been, word-of-mouth. But also Word-of-mouth. But also, we attend those, like, resource fairs, and that's also how we get like, encourage more students to come as well.

Okay. Thank you. My my question

is important to see that you're doing some good program. How do you make it more aware that many kids in the can utilize the watch? So thank you.

All right. Any other question? Yeah. Go ahead, commissioner.

In the event that we can't give you the full 1,500, I believe you stated that a minimum would be a thousand. Is that to just continue the program, or is that you'd be looking for a minimum from the city in terms of a grant? If you can't get that, then program does continue. And and is it planned for next school year?

Yeah. So our organization will be, like, continuing for, like, the, you know, next, like, few years, maybe even longer. So we are definitely planning for the next school year and beyond. And in the case that we don't receive the full funding, we will still be able to, like, continue our work from the donations that we receive, but we might not be able to supply the students with the best materials that we think they deserve. So yeah. Great.

Okay. Any more questions from from presenters? Perfect. Thank you so much for your presentation. We're truly thankful to have you here, and we'll wish you a wonderful evening.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey. Line for you. Please proceed to the on desk waiting area. So I I'll invite our. So we have. They are a new applicant requesting 2,500 in funding for their produce recovery program.

Good evening, and welcome. You will have three minutes for your presentation. Our staff will signal you when it's almost time is up, and the floor is yours. Good evening, and welcome.

Hi. My name is Arjunathan, and I'm the founder of foodlists.org, a youth led five zero one c three nonprofit organization based here in Cupertino, California. Next slide. Our organization aims to fight both food waste and food insecurity by specifically addressing close to 11% of food waste that comes from grocery stores and farmers markets in our county alone. Next slide.

So here's how it works. First, we collect at the physical market location, then we transport the produce with care and deliver it to our partner organizations, where it can then be fed out to our community and feed those who need it the most. Next slide. So far, our organization has recovered over 500 pounds of produce, and we've and we've delivered it to two major food food bits, West Valley Community Services and Martha's soup kitchen. And for every pound of produce that we save, we are we are contributing to our environmental sustainability by eliminating 2.8 pounds of sea emissions from emitting into our atmosphere.

Next slide. So today, I propose a $2,500 grant from the city of Cupertino, and I'll break down what this means for our organization within the next coming months. Next slide. So the large so the largest share of the money will come will go towards collection equipment, specifically heavy duty stock low crates and rolling utility parts. And today, I have an example of one of those one of those utility parts would look like.

So these things look very simple, but they cost actually around 5 to $10, and we need approximately 50 to 60 of these for each time that we plan to collect. Next one. We also wanna spend around $800 specifically towards transportation, and this includes both U Haul U Haul car rentals and fuel costs. And we estimate those to be anywhere between 50 to $60 for each trip that we have. Next.

We also want to make sure that our volunteers are remaining profession professional and food safety, like, certified, so we want to purchase vests and gloves so they won't ignore to do that. And finally, the last part of our money around 4% will go towards our website and domain hosting. We host our website on hostinger.com, which requires a $23 per month subscription, but we also want to use that money for volunteer scheduling and data integration. Thank you so much for listening to my talk today. Do you guys have any further questions?

Who is driving the new car?

Yeah. So we would our organization is 100% group based mostly, but we also need parents, but specifically for that, for driving those new car cars. So we would right now, now, our team is around five to 10 people, but we're trying to market this through our social media, which you can find our in our Instagram.

One more question.

Sometimes, wherever you're collecting the produce from, don't they give boxes, the cartons? Do you need to buy these baskets?

Yes. So you might ask why why why not use a cardboard box or something else that would be a little bit cheaper? Well, these ones the specific reason is because there's contamination issues. For example, if we have things like fruits like pomegranates and oranges, those can those can easily leak. And so we wanna make sure that if we instead of creating a cardboard box, we have one of these, which is very safety and secure in order to make sure we transport with efficiency and care.

Yes.

Hi. You you say that

your program, your date and duration is three to four years. When do you anticipate spending this? So

we made our application requested $2,500 today. We plan to spend most of this money within the next around four to six months in particular. But our our duration will be much longer than that.

K.

So will you have money in

the four to six months? And the reason I I asked that is that this grant for the next fiscal year for the series

starts starts of July? Yes.

Yeah. So regard regarding that, we will have the funds until then because we will we have other funding that we also secured from the Youth Service America grant, which is around $1,000. So we have we are also reaching out to other programs also to fund our program. It's not just community grants.

And the minimum you said if we couldn't because we have limited funds.

If we couldn't support full request Yes.

Minimum that you would be looking for?

We would be looking anywhere between 1,000 to $1,250 for

that. Okay. Thank you so much.

And yet the commission here has come up in? Yeah. How many times do you do this on a weekly basis? Or you collect the you said, right, from Farmers Market and others? So how often do you do that?

Basically, the produce that we've collected so far has been we've done it around November, December time, and sometime around then. But those were mainly just to test whether this program will be, like, actually applicable, like, whether we can actually scale this to actually become something. And so we've determined that that's possible. So now we're planning to try to, like the money that I'm trying to request today is to implement, like, a formalized collection program, something that's structured, rigid, and then that can continue for, like, the times come in a situation where I don't even need.

Yeah. That's on a weekly, monthly? Yes.

That would be on a weekly basis. One two times a week on Saturday and Sunday.

Because if if you're doing it for weekly, the the cost for the URL one, that's what I was questioning.

Yeah.

The second one is, do you have any partnership? You tested out with the local grocery stores on anything?

Yes. Yes. So we are currently working with trying to work with Filipe's market in order to implement a collection program there. And we wanna expand at specifically a Philly based market. A lot of their produce is, like, mold or rotten, so we also wanna expand looking into composting, which is one of another thing that we're looking into. But yet again, we're and we're also looking to partner with Second Harvest, so I just had to talk with them a couple days back about their food recovery program. But we haven't those details are still being worked out as of the moment right now.

Okay. Thank you. That's all. Questions. Perfect. I don't have a question, but I just have a feedback. I think that what you do is wonderful. And I wanted to thank you because there's

a lot of food

and security going on right there to come up with ideas like this and move forward. Takes a lot of courage and a lot of good heart. So thank you.

Thank you

so much. Thank you again for your presentation. Yes.

And I thank all of you guys for listening, and let me talk.

Of course. Thank you so much for being here today.

Thanks, Sunbarmatic. To the on deck waiting area while I invite our next speaker, Mai Paruj. They are a new applicant requesting $2,500 in funding for their heart care program that delivers mental health

Good evening. Can I interject? Yes. They're getting the information about the timing so you don't have have to tell them again. Sure. And you're actually about six minutes so far total.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you. Hi,

everyone. Thank you for your time. My name is Sarah, and I'm the founder of Reminded for Youth, is which a nonprofit that makes mental health resources accessible for all young people. Started this organization after I had a sibling attend Monte Vista High School, and he was diagnosed with depression at that time. And so that's when I learned how big of an issue mental health is, especially in the Cupertino area.

Next slide. So this is one of Mindfreight's biggest programs called HeartCare, which distributes mental wellness kits to you to promote awareness and also make resources accessible. So these kits include items like slime, handmade cards by other youth, and awareness merchandise. And then some of our special items are with our partnership with Lush where we also include bath bombs and then a food therapy voucher from our partnership with BetterHelp. Next slide.

So far, we have distributed 5,100 heart care kits across North America. So this includes The United States and Canada so far. However, for me, local impact also means just as much as impact anywhere else, especially by being a Cupertino resident. I think I really wanna give back to my community here as well in Cupertino. Next slide. So with the $2,500 grant I'm requesting, 80 percent of the kits that we make with this grant go to RISE middle and high schools in the FUHSD and CUSD districts. So this includes special programs such as ESL, special education, and

at risk youth programs, and then

the other 20% of the kits we make will go towards homeless shelters for youth in the Santa Clara County.

Thank you. And then

as a part of this program as well, we'll be holding volunteer events to assemble the kits themselves. So we predict that we'll hold events that reach about 150 volunteers from Cupertino, so we're also bringing our own community together to get involved in this effort. Then And these are some of the pictures of events for volunteering we've held in the Cupertino Library so far. Next slide. So this is just an overview of our budget.

As you can see, 90 percent of our grant will be going towards the kit materials themselves. And then on the next slide, there this is a more specific breakdown of which items and then how much each item costs. So in addition to the materials themselves, we'll also be spending on the kit boxes and then things like printing vouchers, getting wristbands, stickers, and slime. Next slide. So with this grant, we estimate that we'll be able to assemble 1,400 kits for youth, So we're also reaching 1,400 youth, but also the other teens and adults that we're able to engage in the volunteering process of assembling these kits.

Right. We'll open up to questions. We'll a question from our.

Thank you. Couple of quick questions. One, how do you identify when you distribute the case? And it's it's a privacy issue. Right? Mental health or nobody's going to say that to one and two. So how do you really select and distribute? I know you said 5,100, whatever you go out, the nation or even Canada, you said. How do you select and distribute?

Yeah. So for selection process, our main kind of demographic in the past has been if they are a participant participant of one of the programs. So for this grant, if they attend, for example, if they're a part of the special education program at a high school, we usually distribute kids to all students because we realize that mental health it's not just about needing help. That might not be the only issue, but there's also stigma with mental health. And so I believe that reaching all youth regardless of whether they are currently, like, facing a mental health condition is still important for addressing the stigma that's involved. So we do give it to all youth who are a part of a program.

Awesome. The second question is, since you're already done to five k plus one, is there a way you measure that there is an improvement or the school gives you a feedback or wherever that, yes, it helped kind of? Do you get the feedback?

Yeah. In the past, we've

distributed mainly to youth homeless shelters. And so from the people who run those shelters, we've heard how much, like, fun those kids and recipients have had with the kids. And then we've also heard from a youth directly that because of the voucher that we give with BetterHelp to access free therapy, that helped them personally a lot because it also helped them address the linguistic barriers with mental health and speaking to a counselor since the platform offers therapy in multiple languages.

Excellent. Excellent. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you. Very helpful questions. You're gonna come share some more.

Yes. You show the program duration

of nine months. Is there a from and a to?

When is that nine months?

Yes. So the from will be about from June, so the this year of June, to we estimate it should wrap up in December this year as well. So it won't be too long of a program, but main thing is also holding the volunteer events throughout the year. So it won't just be we assemble all of the kits at once. We'll be doing it throughout the year at multiple events. So assemble kits and distribute that.

Okay. And my other question is, what's slime?

Slime is like a pudding. Yeah.

Sorry. Go ahead.

Yeah. Yeah. Slime's like a pudding, so it's for, like, relaxation. I'm sorry.

I still want something.

Yeah. Well, it's fun.

It's really slimey. Yeah.

We felt like kids really enjoy that. Just from school, like, it's sometimes a nice distraction in that salon. Okay.

Thank you. Great

idea. Alright. I have a question for you. Are those 1,400 kits that you foresee are gonna be all for Cupertino? Because there are, like I said, another slide you were talking about North America. So I just wanted to see geographically

Yes.

Are those 1,400 gonna be here in Cupertino provided?

Yes. So so of those 1,400, 80% of them will be going directly in Cupertino, so to schools, the FUHSD and CUSD district. But then the other 20%, we're hoping to distribute in Cupertino, but also a bit around Cupertino so we can reach you through our in homeless shelters currently.

Because because there are no homeless shelters here.

In Cupertino. Yeah.

Yeah. Alright. Thank you so much. Is there no other questions, Lauren? Thank you so much for your participation. Thank you. Thank you.

You're welcome.

To the on deck waiting area. And First, from Fire Magic, they are a new applicant requesting $1,000 in funding to drive their seniors to visit places.

Good evening. Welcome.

Hello. Hello, everybody. Good evening. My name is Archana Panda. I'm a twenty year resident of Cupertino, and I'm also art and culture commissioner. And I I've been work I've worked with Oracle. I've worked with Comcast and and Wells Fargo. I'm an engineer. I also have teaching experience in Unified Public School System. I'm an education teacher from San Jose State. Last five years, I've been working with seniors. I do exercise, dance class with them every morning from 2021 till now. Every morning, we have We do exercise dancing. And recently, like, from last three years, we also started taking them to performances. And I've observed in this duration, I have come across their life very closely, emotionally, socially, financially, and I mean, all my seniors at my life kind kind of very close to me.

And I felt that I can now take them one step higher. I've realized that they feel very left out in technology and studying, in educate and, like and I I I feel there are four things that they actually mean. Scared, I call it. C is connecting, connected, being connected. A is staying alive.

R is being respected, and e is education. And coming from outside, especially if they're immigrants, they don't usually have that much of technical expertise, but they are willing to learn. I mean, even if they're 18, 90, I have but my students 95 years who still wants to learn how to do slides, how to text, how to what is Google Suite. And we have taken these things, like, in smaller scales, but I feel I can scale it up a little bit. I have limited potential in my capacity, but if given a chance, I wanna take a little further, scale it up to more people.

And in that web and it's the my class are free. Zoom and on it's on Zoom Zoom every morning. It's So anybody who can I know, who wish to learn something, they can come and, you know, whatever I can share? So now what's my plan? What I wanna do with the fund that's being assigned? So I want to take it to schools. Being a teacher for five years, I have seen the school system, the children, and the seniors. They kind of complement each other. I have a plan in mind, which I call the heritage. If I can bring my seniors to schools and these people whose parents are very busy, and I can understand me being a parent, I've been so and my schedules are so busy.

If they can make a grandparent children combination, and the children can teach my seniors the technology, and the seniors can teach them heritage, storytelling, their legacy, their culture. And the students can in in in return give them the basic knowledge of technology. Not it's not rocket science. Very simple on either side, but they need to be connected. That connection I want to form, like, very minimal resources, techno technical computers.

And it's not like new raft. There's a center called resource area for teachers. They have very reasonable charges for all these technical instruments. I'm I, being a teacher, I'm authorized to take it. So in very limited amount, I can actually set up a center where my seniors and students can benefit benefit from each other. So what are the pros and what are what are the cons? So this not only teaches them education, science, technology, but it kind of bonds them together. They give up they send get a sense of attachment, the seniors and the students. I'm sorry. I'm not following the this thing, but I'm just speaking from my heart, from my mind.

What is in my mind? What I wanted and wish to do? So and it's just just not the fund, but it's a recognition. When I go to when I when I go to go and talk to the schools about what my plans are, it'll give me a very strong foothold that people believe in what I'm planning to do, my dream, my aspirations. So And and the and I'll say that I have three children who have graduated from Mountain Vista High School, and they've settled well. So they from them, I learned that what they need, what my seniors need, there are two potential sec sections which just needs to be brought together. I'll lead your good wishes for that purpose. Thank you.

Thank you. Question. Commission and.

How are the funds being fixed?

For the

Funds that you are requesting. So there is the expense.

Sure. So the space is free because you know, there's no overhead. There's no person. They all are volunteers. But the resources, the computers, the the material that we can then get, all the stuff, I I plan to have some little bit of event organizing stuff. This the and I want to take it long, not just one to time I can afford. But if I can sustain it for long, one year, two year, five years, so for the smaller expenses, I need to have that fund available with me for the the parents and the seniors, even if I find the free rides for them or the low paid rides for them. So those small small expenses add up. So those are the things I and also the small resources in draft, I get computers within fifty to hundred dollars. If I can get get those for, like, a set of 10, my seniors can sit together to learn.

My my students, if they come, if they I have to award somebody, like, smaller those are small expenses, but I need to have a budget for that.

Any other question? Yeah.

So do you partner with our senior centers? Because

Yes, sir.

Center Yes, sir.

I have taken classes there. One full session I had taken last season. I taught them all the seniors where at first, I did in my school center. For four years, I was teaching the Bombay Jam. Then I got some hurt. I then I started seniors dance teaching dances to to seniors. So in my in our senior center, I have taken last season one dance full session free, like, for my seniors.

Oh, okay. Sorry. Maybe my question was, this is said you're selecting people, like, who were the seniors. They're not for whatever.

Right. Right, sir.

So it's the same thing. Can you do it for this? Because you said everyday mornings you're doing.

Yes.

Can you are you partnering with the senior centers? Because a lot of folks in senior center can also utilize your work.

Absolutely. So I've already

before I was

I've already been doing there.

Okay.

I teach and dance aerobics for Zumba, pranayama, yoga, and meditation. Okay. This semester, I have I could not get the slot open, but last semester, I taught them there.

Awesome. Okay.

All this is

question I because moment you showed, I thought that's the

only question I have. New. Yes.

On the application, and what's showing there is that the grant is to for driving our seniors to visit places. I quite can hear you. I I heard you talking about things seniors to meet with students, but I thought in the application it was more about performances and things like that. So I'm I don't just Then like you clarify.

They're also doing that, but I have a bigger vision than that. That when I applied for it, that was also in my mind. But now I think that my dream, my vision, my mission is a little higher than just taking the for a purpose, for a passion, for some something that they can attain for that mission of accomplishment. Not just going, but doing something. I feel my seniors can do much more than just visiting and enjoying.

That they do anyways. But if they have something that they are worth of doing, getting that that you know, the the I the word I should say is the project that they can help. I mean, nobody else can do that. They have lot of experience, potential talent, which they can share with others. And if they they can, you know, pass that legacy to our children, to our students, I mean, that will be win win for both groups. That's all. So I'm I'm not exactly, like, planned out in which way in smaller things, but I feel that once I get that allowance and the permission, the plan can be formulated.

Any more questions? Appreciate it. Thank you so much for your presentation. Thank you, Linda.

Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, you may proceed to the on deck waiting area while I invite our next presenter, Zuidos Lions Club. Slimes Club is a new applicant. They are requesting $5,000 of funding for their fish.

Good evening. Welcome. The floor is yours.

Thank you. As a proud lion, I wanna say we're happy. We're proud of your community. We've been serving Cupertino for over sixty years. Annually, since 1964, we held a fish event. This event is an event for disabled and handicapped individuals, mentally and physically. We bring them together for a day of fishing. Currently, we have stocked a pond with fish. We're we purchased the fish. We put it in.