The Community Foundation of the Florida Keys is awarding $500,800 in grants to 49 Keys nonprofits for projects in all areas of the Keys that will directly benefit residents, communities and the environment.
“The need is greater than ever as we received 113 applications this year, compared to 57 last year,” said Jennifer McComb, president and CEO of the foundation.
Ten community members – representing Key West, the Lower Keys, the Middle Keys and Upper Keys – reviewed and scored the funding applications.
When McComb first oversaw the process in 2020, she said, the foundation granted $144,500 to 27 organizations. The dollars awarded this year are 63% higher than the $307,750 granted to 48 Keys nonprofits in 2022 and more than twice as much as the $215,266 granted to 35 organizations in 2021.
The foundation grants over $2 million a year, but most of the funding is earmarked for specific nonprofits, per the wishes of individual donors.
Grants committee chair Marian Buccafurni said the reviewers scored programs for basic needs like food, housing, childcare and health care highest, as well as projects that would help a large number of residents or be one-time fixes for serious issues, like the lack of a computerized identification system for individuals staying at the homeless shelter.
McComb said trends in this year’s applications revealed a disquieting state of nonprofits in the Florida Keys. “Volunteers and staff at organizations are having to pursue creative solutions to their challenges, but there was a sentiment of hope and pride for the Keys community threading throughout the proposals,” she said.
The 2023 grant recipients are:
A Positive Step Inc.: $10,000
Active Disabled Americans: $5,000
AH of Monroe County Inc.: $20,000
Anchors Aweigh Club Inc.: $2,000
Chapters Health Foundation, Inc.: $5,000
Conch Republic Marine Army: $2,500
Cornerstone Resource Alliance Inc.: $8,000
Crane Point Museum & Nature Center: $8,000
Diocese Of Southeast Florida Saint Columba Episcopal Church: $3,500
Domestic Abuse Shelter: $10,000
Educational Coalition for Monroe County: $10,000
First Baptist Islamorada Community Ministry: $5,000
Florida Keys Area Health Education Center: $20,000
Florida Keys Children’s Shelter Inc.: $10,000
Florida Keys Council of the Arts: $9,500
Florida Keys Healthy Start Coalition: $13,000
Florida Keys Outreach Coalition: $20,000
Florida Keys Wildlife Society: $5,000
Friends of Pennekamp: $4,800
Friends of the Key West Library: $5,000
Good Health Clinic: $10,000
Grace Jones Community Center: $20,000
Habitat for Humanity of Key West and the Lower Florida Keys: $15,000
Habitat for Humanity of the Middle Keys: $20,000
Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys: $20,000
Islamorada Firefighters’ Benevolent Association: $3,000
Jose Wejebe Memorial Foundation: $5,000
Key West Botanical Garden Society: $5,000
Key West Cultural Preservation Society: $10,000
Key West Preschool Cooperative: $5,000
Key West Wildlife Center, Inc.: $2,500
Kids 4 Kids USA, Inc.: $10,000
Kids Come First In the Florida Keys Inc.: $10,000
Literacy Volunteers of America: $12,000
Marathon Community Theatre: $5,000
Metropolitan Community Church: $10,000
Monroe Assoc for ReMARCable Citizens: $15,000
Mote Marine Laboratory: $2,000
Plant a Million Corals Foundation: $14,000
Presents in Paradise: $5,000
Reef Relief: $9,500
Salvation Army: $3,000
Samuel’s House Inc.: $20,000
South Florida Symphony Orchestra: $16,000
Southernmost Hockey Club: $2,500
Tennessee Williams Theatre: $20,000
Tropic Cinema: $20,000
Wesley House Family Services Inc.: $15,000Womankind: $20,000
