Upper Keys Business and Professional Women Open Permanent Endowment Fund for Local Scholarships

Upper Keys Business and Professional Women Open Permanent Endowment Fund for Local Scholarships

The Upper Keys Business and Professional Women (BPW) has opened an endowment with the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys. The fund will provide for annual scholarships for Upper Keys women, in perpetuity.

The Upper Keys BPW invested $10,000 in the new fund, which immediately doubled to $20,000 thanks to a Community Foundation matching fund program.    

“The Community Foundation wants to do all we can to support important projects like helping local women better themselves through scholarships, and the MacDougall Match is a wonderful way to strengthen or start endowments that do just that,” said Dr. Susanne Woods, board chair of the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys.

The Upper Keys BPW launched a campaign to add an additional $10,000 to the new fund at its annual membership meeting in Key Largo and more than $2,000 was pledged on the spot. Additional funds will be matched 1:1 by the Community Foundation, as long as the Peter MacDougall Match funds are available. 

“We’re able to take advantage of the endowment and Peter MacDougall Match funds thanks to the consistent generosity of our members and sponsors, coupled with sound financial management from our leadership over the years,” said Suzi Youngberg, Upper Keys BPW President 2021-2022. 

“Working women across the country have been hit hard by the pandemic and face continuing economic challenges,” added Jill Kuehnert, incoming Upper Keys BPW President 2022-2023. “We want to make sure that women here in the Keys always have support to pursue educational opportunities, lifting up their families and our entire community,” she added.

Community members and businesses who wish to support scholarships for adult women and want to have their charitable donations doubled can give online at cffk.org/ukbpw. Alternatively, they can mail checks payable to CFFK, 300 Southard St., Ste. 201, Key West, FL 33040 with “Upper Keys BPW Fund” in the memo or attachment.  Gifts of stock, real estate and retirement accounts are also accepted. For more information, contact Jennifer McComb at 305-809-4991 or [email protected].

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