The Edward Boss Prado Foundation is ending its partnership with Morgan Hill Unified School District, with the nonprofit’s leadership saying the district’s plan to run its own food and clothing programs leaves it without a role.
Cecelia and Gary Ponzini, who founded the foundation in 2013 in memory of their son Edward, announced the change in a statement and at a Sept. 14 gathering of about 65 donors. They said the foundation, which runs Cecelia’s Closet and Food Pantry in Morgan Hill, will continue serving families without the district’s operational support.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Cecelia Ponzini said in an interview, adding that “nothing’s changing in the way we do things.”
For the past 14 years, school liaisons at each Morgan Hill school have called the foundation to schedule appointments for families needing food, clothing, hygiene items, bedding or shoes. The foundation says it has served more than 30,000 families through its donation programs.
The dispute centers on the school district’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Center, where the district plans to begin offering clothing and food donations among other services, to roll out during the coming years.
The center has operated since 2022 and is located on the southwest corner of Del Monte and Central avenues, next to Britton Middle School.
Ponzini said she learned of the district’s plans at a July 21 lunch with Superintendent Carmen Garcia, where Garcia described the district’s plans to expand their services at the center to include a food pantry and clothing closet similar to Cecelia’s Closet, and asked if the Edward Boss Prado Foundation would help supply donated materials. The Ponzinis, they said, refused.
“It was hurtful,” Cecelia Ponzini said of how she learned of the plans. “This is the legacy of my son. I think it was very cold, the way they did it.”
Gary Ponzini expressed confusion at the decision, noting that the district had never expressed dissatisfaction with their partnership.
“They’ve never, ever said, ‘You did a bad job,’” he said. “And all of a sudden, without telling us … in a sense they want us to shut down and send all our supplies over there, our workers over there, and the contacts we have. In a sense, shut us down, so there’ll be no more Edward Boss Prado Foundation.”
Garcia disputed this characterization in a Sept. 15 letter to Ponzini, writing that they had hoped to partner with the foundation to help build up the FACE Center to create a “one-stop-shop” for students with families in need.
“At no point during this meeting did we ask that the Foundation withdraw its support from our families,” Garcia wrote.
Garcia also wrote that the district “would welcome you back into our community of partners.” Ponzini said the foundation would return only if the district had new leadership.
MHUSD officials said the FACE center clothing closet, food pantry and laundromat have yet to be implemented and will roll out during the coming years. Donations will be welcome once the closet opens, the district said, and it will not lead the effort alone, instead partnering with other foundations and organizations including the Morgan Hill Community Foundation, Rebekah Childrens’ Services, the Boys and Girls Club of Morgan Hill, and dozens more.
“We don’t see our partners as competitors,” wrote Lanae Bays, the district’s Communications Coordinator. “We have always subscribed to the philosophy that there is no monopoly on philanthropy. And we are eternally grateful to our district’s partners for their love, care and support of our students and their families.”
Margaret Graham, who volunteers with Cecelia’s Closet, raised concerns about privacy at the new MHUSD center.
“When families come here (to Cecelia’s Closet), nobody else sees who they are,” Graham said. “Cecelia is not taking names. They can come and get whatever they need. They’re going to lose that anonymity at the FACE Center, because people are going to see who’s going in and out, and who’s requiring the services of that center.”
The Ponzinis said they are not worried about losing volunteers or donors, and will continue to provide the same services they have during the past 14 years.
“We’re just going forward, we’re not looking back,” Cecelia Ponzini said. “We’re still here, the programs are still going to run, and the families are still going to get what they need without the school district. Because really, the school district never did anything for us.”
Cecelia’s Closet and Food Pantry is located at 35 Peebles Ave. in Morgan Hill.
