Upland advisory committee recommends creation of Upland CARES emergency fund
March 18, 2026 | Upland, San Bernardino County, California
This article was created by AI summarizing key points discussed. AI makes mistakes, so for full details and context, please refer to the video of the full meeting. Please report any errors so we can fix them. Report an error »
The City Council Advisory Committee on March 18 recommended that City Council approve a new emergency donations account called the Upland CARES fund and designate the committee as the advisory body to recommend distributions.
Assistant City Manager Parker, who led the presentation, said the fund — “Upland CARES, CARES being an acronym standing for community assistance relief in emergency situations” — would allow the city to accept tax‑deductible donations after a large incident and route money to victims more equitably than ad‑hoc fundraising. Parker told the committee the city manager would declare a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) or Mass Displacement Incident (MDI) to open the fund and that City Council must affirm that declaration within 10 days; donations taken before affirmation would be returned if council does not affirm the activation.
Executive Assistant Stacy Padron reviewed incidents that motivated the proposal and described the intended application process. Padron cited the city’s 2021 7th Street apartment fire as a model of the problem staff seeks to prevent: “the city of Upland had a fire in an apartment on 7th Street, that caused approximately 200 people from 47 units to be displaced,” she said. Padron said staff would open an application period for verified victims and that the CAC would review applications and recommend distributions to City Council.
Staff proposed activation criteria for MCIs and MDIs. For an MCI the draft would require all five elements to be met, including three or more unrelated victims with serious injury or fatalities and an incident that occurs in a public or community‑accessible area. For displacement incidents the draft sets a unit threshold (staff proposed eight units as drafted but invited the committee to lower that to four), and initially proposed a two‑month expected displacement; staff said those numerical thresholds are adjustable by the committee.
On emergency distributions, Parker said the city manager — with CAC approval — may authorize emergency assistance up to the lesser of 25% of donations received for the incident or the city manager’s emergency spending limit, which staff said is currently $50,000. “With approval of CAC, the city manager may authorize emergency assistance up to the lesser of 25% of donations already received for the incident or the city manager's authorized emergency spending limit, which right now is 50,000,” Parker said. Distributions exceeding those limits would require City Council approval.
Staff recommended using the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) to hold the fund because IECF can accept tax‑deductible gifts, provides investment options and annual reporting, and charges a roughly 2% annual fee; staff noted IECF requires a minimum balance (staff said roughly $25,000) to keep a fund open. Parker said the city manager has identified $25,000 in the contingency fund to seed the account and emphasized the city intends that seed not be tapped except to establish the account.
Parker and Padron explained distribution mechanics: IECF can disburse quickly to nonprofit partners, but will not write checks to individuals; if the committee recommends distributions to individuals the city would issue individual checks and be reimbursed from the IECF account. A committee participant who said they are treasurer of the Upland Community Foundation described a positive working relationship with IECF and said IECF provides annual reports and prompt distributions when requested.
Committee members pressed staff on several operational details: how quickly CAC and City Council could meet (staff noted a 24‑hour notice requirement for special meetings), how applications would be vetted (hospital records, insurance status and other documentation were discussed as verification examples), the balance between moving quickly on urgent needs and preventing inappropriate claims, audit and tax reporting questions if the city issues checks to individuals, and whether memoranda of understanding with nonprofits would guarantee 100% of donated proceeds go to victims.
After discussion and small edits to the draft criteria language, Committee Chair Short moved that the CAC recommend City Council approve the Upland CARES fund policy document and designate the CAC as the advisory body for distribution; the committee seconded and voted unanimously in favor. Staff said they will research tax and reporting implications of issuing checks to individuals before forwarding the recommended guidelines to City Council.
The committee adjourned after the vote.
Assistant City Manager Parker, who led the presentation, said the fund — “Upland CARES, CARES being an acronym standing for community assistance relief in emergency situations” — would allow the city to accept tax‑deductible donations after a large incident and route money to victims more equitably than ad‑hoc fundraising. Parker told the committee the city manager would declare a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) or Mass Displacement Incident (MDI) to open the fund and that City Council must affirm that declaration within 10 days; donations taken before affirmation would be returned if council does not affirm the activation.
Executive Assistant Stacy Padron reviewed incidents that motivated the proposal and described the intended application process. Padron cited the city’s 2021 7th Street apartment fire as a model of the problem staff seeks to prevent: “the city of Upland had a fire in an apartment on 7th Street, that caused approximately 200 people from 47 units to be displaced,” she said. Padron said staff would open an application period for verified victims and that the CAC would review applications and recommend distributions to City Council.
Staff proposed activation criteria for MCIs and MDIs. For an MCI the draft would require all five elements to be met, including three or more unrelated victims with serious injury or fatalities and an incident that occurs in a public or community‑accessible area. For displacement incidents the draft sets a unit threshold (staff proposed eight units as drafted but invited the committee to lower that to four), and initially proposed a two‑month expected displacement; staff said those numerical thresholds are adjustable by the committee.
On emergency distributions, Parker said the city manager — with CAC approval — may authorize emergency assistance up to the lesser of 25% of donations received for the incident or the city manager’s emergency spending limit, which staff said is currently $50,000. “With approval of CAC, the city manager may authorize emergency assistance up to the lesser of 25% of donations already received for the incident or the city manager's authorized emergency spending limit, which right now is 50,000,” Parker said. Distributions exceeding those limits would require City Council approval.
Staff recommended using the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) to hold the fund because IECF can accept tax‑deductible gifts, provides investment options and annual reporting, and charges a roughly 2% annual fee; staff noted IECF requires a minimum balance (staff said roughly $25,000) to keep a fund open. Parker said the city manager has identified $25,000 in the contingency fund to seed the account and emphasized the city intends that seed not be tapped except to establish the account.
Parker and Padron explained distribution mechanics: IECF can disburse quickly to nonprofit partners, but will not write checks to individuals; if the committee recommends distributions to individuals the city would issue individual checks and be reimbursed from the IECF account. A committee participant who said they are treasurer of the Upland Community Foundation described a positive working relationship with IECF and said IECF provides annual reports and prompt distributions when requested.
Committee members pressed staff on several operational details: how quickly CAC and City Council could meet (staff noted a 24‑hour notice requirement for special meetings), how applications would be vetted (hospital records, insurance status and other documentation were discussed as verification examples), the balance between moving quickly on urgent needs and preventing inappropriate claims, audit and tax reporting questions if the city issues checks to individuals, and whether memoranda of understanding with nonprofits would guarantee 100% of donated proceeds go to victims.
After discussion and small edits to the draft criteria language, Committee Chair Short moved that the CAC recommend City Council approve the Upland CARES fund policy document and designate the CAC as the advisory body for distribution; the committee seconded and voted unanimously in favor. Staff said they will research tax and reporting implications of issuing checks to individuals before forwarding the recommended guidelines to City Council.
The committee adjourned after the vote.
Don't Miss a Word: See the Full Meeting!
Go beyond summaries. Unlock every video, transcript, and key insight with a Founder Membership.
✓
Get instant access to full meeting videos
✓
Search and clip any phrase from complete transcripts
✓
Receive AI-powered summaries & custom alerts
✓
Enjoy lifetime, unrestricted access to government data
30-day money-back guarantee
