Key West High School Grad Honors Parents With New Community Foundation Award

Key West High School (KWHS) Spanish teacher Belinda Rodriguez is the first recipient of the new Harry and Linda Bryant Fund grant award at the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys (CFFK). The fund was created at CFFK by Key West native Liz Wooten-Reschke to honor her late parents for their four decades of community service in the Keys. The annual $1,000 grant promotes dedicated local teachers in her parents’ name and celebrates the critical role educators play in our community.

This first year, Liz decided the grant recipient should be a teacher economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I wanted to see where the emerging needs were, particularly with teachers,” says Liz. “I am proud that the support of teachers has helped in such a positive way.”

In helping select Belinda Rodriguez as the first grant recipient, KWHS Principal Amber Archer Acevedo said, “Belinda is a single mom who has done an excellent job with virtual learning, just like she does in her classroom. She is not only deserving of recognition, but she definitely has had a higher need due to the COVID pandemic and its economic effects.”

Liz Wooten-Reschke is a former resident of Key West and created the Harry and Linda Bryant Fund at CFFK in memory of her late parents who lived and worked in, volunteered and financially supported the Keys for more than 40 years, specifically Key West High School. Liz’s mother was a long-time English teacher there and Liz was a KWHS student.

“My parents gave countless hours, dollars and support to the Key West community,” says Liz. “It seems only fitting to honor their memory and their commitment by investing in educators at KWHS.”

In future years, the Harry and Linda Bryant Fund will award an annual grant to a local teacher, especially at KWHS, for classroom enhancements that have a positive impact on students. Generous donors, like Liz Wooten-Reschke, often create new funds or make gifts to the Community Foundation in honor or in memory of a family member or loved one. For more information, visit cffk.org.

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.

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