Grant Applications
& Guidelines
Thank you for your interest in Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California. Our mission is to provide lifesaving and life- enriching assistance to organizations which serve children with special needs in Southern California. Our primary goal is to provide support wherever the need is the greatest. Please read the grant guidelines and application carefully to ensure that your mission is aligned with Variety’s funding initiatives.
Grant Application
Variety is dedicated to inspiring hope, enriching lives and building a better future for the children of Southern California. We review grant requests from 501 (c ) 3 non-profits whose mission is to support children with special needs in the areas of Health Care, Education and Mobility. Your funding request should be program specific for children in Southern California ages birth to 18.
Grant Impact Report
Variety’s Grant Impact Form is intended to encourage grantees to report on the programs/services that have received funding so that lessons learned can enable Variety to evaluate the impact of its funding.
Variety Kids On The Go! Mobility Program
Bike rides, beach days, trips to the park – these are all staples of childhood that kids with disabilities want to experience. They want to be active and mobile like other children in their communities.
But the durable medical equipment necessary to give these kids the independence they desire is often too expensive for many families, especially those with a low household income or too many other expenses necessary for raising a child with special needs. And insurance isn’t always the answer – in many cases, devices like adaptive bikes and special needs strollers are denied, despite their immense physical and therapeutic benefits, because insurance doesn’t consider them to be necessary items. Even wheelchairs can take up to two years to be funded by insurance.
This is where Variety steps in. Variety Kids on the Go! aims to help kids gain mobility, confidence, freedom, independence and the chance to join in the life of their community by providing funding for walkers, wheelchairs, specially-designed adaptive bikes, therapeutic strollers, prosthetic limbs and other devices to families with the most need.
Variety Sunshine
Coach Program
This program was born 30 years ago as a means to literally bring children with special needs out into the “sunshine”. Today, thousands of these specially equipped Sunshine Coaches are traveling the world’s roadways, as each local Variety Chapter has developed regional programs. In Southern California alone, over 250 Sunshine coaches transport children to medical treatment, therapy, education and recreation. Eligible 501(c)(3) children’s organizations can download the Sunshine Coach application below.