About This Initiative
The Ryan Michael Smith Endowed Golf Scholarship at UNLV is established to honor Ryan Smith, a highly regarded and beloved leader at the City Las Vegas who served as Director of Economic and Urban Development at the City of Las Vegas before he passed away on March 17, 2024. The scholarship will be awarded to a student-athlete and member of the UNLV men’s golf team. Smith, who was an avid golfer, worked on a number of projects and developments that have had a transformative effect across the city, including many in the Arts District, Symphony Park, and the Historic Westside. Ryan’s genuine and warm spirit touched the lives of so many who had the great fortune to know him.
About This Initiative
The Las Vegas Book Festival is the largest literary event in Nevada and attracts 10,000+ attendees of all ages.
For 17 years, the city of Las Vegas has partnered with local businesses and nonprofits to bring the joy of reading to our community.
This three-day festival includes a wide range of events and activities culminating in a day-long bazaar of books, authors, readings, and workshops that are free and open to anyone who shares a love of reading.
Partnership Opportunities
The Mayor’s Fund is seeking new partners who recognize the importance of reading and literacy.
A range of sponsorship opportunities are available to help the city of Las Vegas bring engaging content and involve more community members.
More information about how you can support this annual tradition can be found at www.lasvegasbookfestival.org
The Las Vegas Community Healing Garden is a place of healing and respect for those who were lost on October 1. Your support will help maintain the plants, flowers, trees, and other amenities in the garden, including the memorial waterfall feature, and will help ensure the serenity of this beautiful garden will last for following generations.
About this initiative:
The City of Las Vegas celebrates its unique and iconic character through public art and cultural events. From murals to large sculpture, the city recognizes the impact that art has on its community and ensures access to art throughout the city. As a reflection of the community, artists and artworks are selected that contribute lasting impact.
Projects include:
- Conservation and maintenance
- Murals in neighborhood parks
- Public art education series
- Annual Arts Summit
In addition to building community pride and improving the economic and social environment of communities, public art is credited with reducing crime and graffiti. Numerous studies in cities across the country cite the impact of public art on safety and community well-being. Most importantly, public art engages the community and helps to create more vibrant neighborhoods where people want to live and visit.
Partnership Opportunities
Partnerships in a variety of levels are sought by the Mayor’s Fund, including funding for individual sculpture, murals, and other public art projects, as well as cultural events, including the city’s annual Arts Summit that convenes arts organizations – large and small – to collaborate and problem-solve on issues affecting the arts.
About This Initiative
More than 6,000 individuals and families in our community lack permanent housing—with 64 percent of our homeless population living on the streets, in encampments, cars or other places not meant for human habitation.
The city of Las Vegas is committed to ensuring that all residents can access a safe, respectful, permanent location to thrive, and is working with local partners to address the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness.
The Courtyard Homeless Resource Center, launched in 2017, is an innovative public-private partnership that convenes a range of service providers in a central, convenient location, to provide homeless clients with access to:
- housing
- medical/mental health services
- legal assistance
- employment opportunities
- income/benefits assistance
- food
- clothing
- and other wraparound services
Partnership Opportunities
To provide the range of services homeless individuals need to regain independence, the Mayor’s Fund is seeking significant support. Unique partnership opportunities include:
Housing Supports:
- Rapidly rehousing a single homeless individual or a homeless family
- Permanent supportive housing (including wrap-around services)
- Bridge housing for clients who are waiting for permanent placement in a housing program
- Move-in costs and rental assistance for clients who are newly homeless, recently employed, or in danger of becoming homeless
Employment Supports:
- New business clothing
- New dress shoes
- Briefcases and backpacks
- Bicycles (used as transportation to work)
- Technology including cell phones, laptops and tablets
Supportive Services:
- Document retrieval (birth certificates, ID Cards, etc.)
- Bus tickets for transport to support networks
- Bus passes for service appointments or employment opportunities
The Courtyard is also seeking in-kind donations of personal care items, non-perishable food items, home starter items to support a fresh start in a new home, and recreational items.
Contact mayorsfundlv@lasvegasnevada.gov to learn more about how you can help support the path to independence for individuals and families in our community.
Overview
With temperatures on the rise, Las Vegas is one of the fastest-warming cities in the country. Urban planners, academics and city leaders all agree that trees help to keep our communities cooler and healthier. By supporting The Mayor’s Fund for Las Vegas LIFE’s Tree Initiative, you can help curb high temps in neighborhoods where trees and greenery are lacking.
Four Reasons to Plant Trees TODAY!
Enhance Neighborhood Aesthetics: Trees improve overall quality of life by adding green space to communities and enhancing neighborhood aesthetics.
Cooling Effect: Trees release water vapor from their leaves, which produces a cooling effect.
Air Quality: Planting trees remains one of the most cost-effective ways of drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Health/Well-Being: Trees have proven positive impact on skin cancer, asthma, hypertension, and other stress-related illness by filtering out polluted air, reducing smog formation, providing shade from solar radiation, and creating an attractive, calming setting for recreation.
Funding Opportunities
We’re looking for donors in the following categories:
- $5,000 will provide for 10 park-ready trees; includes a personalized certificate
- $10,000 will underwrite 20 park-ready trees; includes a plaque
- $25,000 will underwrite 50 park-ready trees; includes a plaque and included in a donor spotlight in a future Mayor’s Fund newsletter
- $50,000 will underwrite 100 park-ready trees; includes a plaque, a press release, and optional ceremonial community planting event (The actual number of trees planted at any community planting event will vary depending on site and duration of the event)
In most cases, trees will be planted in the same general locations unless otherwise arranged with donors:
Individual Trees
- Individual honorary, celebratory or memorial trees may be purchased for $500 and include a name stake. An optional plaque and concrete holder/base may be purchased for an additional $250.
- Donations are also accepted for nursery items including soil blends, pots and specialized liners to manage tree roots.
About This Initiative
The proven benefits of participation in sports are wide-ranging—children can use sports to improve physical fitness, mental acuity, communication skills, leadership and perseverance.
According to Paul Caccamo, a leader in the sports-based youth development movement: “Sports are more than a game; they are a set of life lessons… Young athletes learn to work together, acquire leadership skills, get a sense of discipline and learn communication skills… All of these things are keys to success in the workplace.”
Joining a youth sports team is a rite of passage in many communities. The City of Las Vegas seeks to ensure children, regardless of their ability to pay, can participate in these positive programs.
Partnership Opportunities
Partnership opportunities are available in a range of levels – from sponsoring entre leagues to sponsoring individual chidden and teens, and providing funding to purchase sports equipment, coaching services, team uniforms, trophies, scholarships, wellness activities, and underwriting special sports clinics.