Community Foundation Supports Nonprofits, Relief Efforts; Provides Over $300,000 Throughout the Keys This Month

The Community Foundation of the Florida Keys (CFFK) has provided more than $300,000 recently to aid residents in need and support nonprofits throughout the Keys. The latest round of grants announced today totals $144,500 and funds 27 nonprofits for various community programs and for help with current economic challenges. These grants complement funding awarded by CFFK and its donor partners during the last 30 days to assist those affected by COVID-19’s economic impacts. 

The 27 new grants were fast-tracked from applications to CFFK’s 2020 Community Grant Program. The program provides support in areas including health and human services, education, environment, arts and more. Among the projects receiving grants are those that will help residents in dire need due to COVID-19’s economic effects, including the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition, which is providing up to $250 per qualifying low-income household Keys-wide for essential needs; Metropolitan Community Church’s “Cooking with Love” Program, supplying hot meals and groceries to seniors; and Monroe County Education Foundation’s Take Stock in Children program, helping low-income and out of work families with children who are critically in need of help for basic expenses.

In addition, CFFK grants will support arts education opportunities for youth, medical services for older adults and persons with disabilities, emergency shelter improvements for victims of domestic abuse, healthy food programs, incentives to adopt senior pets, family support services and much more.

This year, because of uncertainty caused by the pandemic, nonprofits awarded appropriations through the Community Grant Program will be allowed to change the use of the funds from their original project proposal to their greatest need. The demand for support unfortunately far outweighed available funds, with CFFK receiving more than 75 funding requests. CFFK’s Grant Committee reviewed and selected proposals for funding. A list of grantees of the most recently awarded grants is attached.

“We wanted to process these applications as quickly as possible because our Keys nonprofits are struggling and desperately need funding,” said Jennifer McComb, President and CEO of CFFK. “Allowing nonprofit organizations to carry out their programs or change their projects to respond to urgent and unmet needs provides critical help to them right now. We’re doing everything we can to help.”

Thousands of residents from Key Largo to Key West are benefiting from the more than $300,000 in CFFK and donor support. Earlier this month, allocations to nonprofits providing residents with urgent food and supplies were made from CFFK’s Florida Keys Emergency Relief Fund to Star of the Sea Foundation in Key West, Keys Area Interdenominational Resources (KAIR) in Marathon, and Burton Memorial United Methodist’s Daily Bread Pantry in Tavernier. Additional grants from the Emergency Relief Fund will be made in the very near future.  

Contributions to the Relief Fund at CFFK are needed to meet the huge demand for assistance. Donations can be made at cffk.org/help or by calling 305-292-1502. CFFK is distributing 100 percent of funds raised and will make grants as long as donations are received. 

The Community Grant Program is funded through generous donations to the Future Fund at CFFK, as well as CFFK Donor Funds, including the Jack Baron Visual Grant Fund, the Florence Fox-Loeb Key West Music and Arts Fund, the Jones-DelMonte Endowment, the Emily Boyd Lowe Music Endowment, the William C. Euler, Jr. and Andrew F. Oates, Jr. Fund, the Jean Olson Memorial Scholarship Fund, and the Bob and Martha Sauer Memorial Endowment.

Your Community Foundation of the Florida Keys, In Paradise for Good, will celebrate its 25th year in 2021. Since 1996, the Community Foundation has been helping individuals and families leave a legacy in the Keys by inspiring giving and by investing in people and solutions to benefit every resident from Key Largo to Key West. Over $30 million in grants have been made to student scholarships, arts and culture, beautification and preservation of the Keys, health and human services, hurricane relief, and youth programs. The Community Foundation is known for its signature “Unsung Heroes” event which honors nonprofit volunteers. For more information, call (305) 292-1502 or visit cffk.org.

2020 Community Grants Awarded by CFFK:

A Positive Step of Monroe County $   5,000

A.H. of Monroe County $   5,000

Bahama Village Music Program $ 10,000

Big Pine Key United Methodist Church $   2,500

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Keys Area $   6,000

Domestic Abuse Shelter $   5,000

Florida Keys Children’s Shelter $   5,000

Florida Keys Healthy Start Coalition $   5,000

Florida Keys Outreach Coalition $   5,400

Florida Keys SPCA $   5,000

Good Health Clinic $   4,000

Guidance / Care Center $   4,000

Key West Botanical Garden Society $   5,000

Key West Community Sailing Center $   3,500

Key West Impromptu Classical Concerts $   3,500

Key West Players/Waterfront Playhouse $ 10,000

Keys Community School of the Arts $ 10,000

Keys to Be the Change $   4,000

Marathon Community Theatre $   4,000

Marine Resources Development Foundation $   2,000

Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) 

         Cooking With Love Program $   5,000

  Monroe Association for ReMARCable Citizens $   5,000

Monroe County Education Foundation $ 10,000

Samuel’s House $   5,000

Special Olympics Florida Monroe County $   2,000

The Key West Art Center $   3,600

The Studios of Key West $10,000

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