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Editor’s Note: The Miami Foundation’s Emerging Philanthropist Award annually celebrates a 40-or-under donor who uses charitable giving to drive measurable results around a local cause, broadly improve the lives of Miamians and encourage others to give.  The hope is that the award inspires other rising philanthropic leaders to see how any donor at any age can have a real impact on issues … Read More

Editor’s note: We are pleased to honor Michele King Soffer, a great Miamian, for her selfless dedication to help those who need it most, as our 2018 Donor Next Door honoree. Below is the short piece that appeared in the Donor Next Door Family Album. Michele King Soffer is on a mission to help reshape the way we think about … Read More

With grant support from The Miami Foundation and others, a group of about 40 students of color went to Washington, D.C, and attended the “March For Our Lives.” Along the way, they took part in a town hall at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and visited the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. One student shared her … Read More

An avid kayaker, Dave Doebler was out paddling in Biscayne Bay one day when he saw trash floating in the water. He instinctively picked it up to toss when he returned to shore. The following week, he did it again. Then, he did it again. “Once you see pollution, you can’t un-see it,” says Dave, a Miami native. On his … Read More

What would he be doing if he were still alive? That’s a question I often think about. Nearly 20 years ago, my older brother, Alan, lost his life in a car accident at the age of 18. I find myself musing about whether he would be a lawyer advocating for people’s rights, following in our father’s footsteps. Maybe he’d be a businessman, leading a new startup. Or, if his teenage dream would have come true, Alan would be a sports agent like the lead character in his favorite movie, “Jerry Maguire.” He could recite every line from beginning to end and would jokingly say, “Show me the money!” He also dreamed of one day marrying Renée Zellweger.

The possibilities seem endless because I know that whatever Alan would have done with his life, he would have done it big. He would have worked hard to make it happen, he would have never given up and he would have been successful. My family and I wanted to make sure that Alan’s passion and potential would live on in young people who shared his ambition and resilience. To do this, we started the Alan Epstein “Reach for the Stars” Scholarship at The Miami Foundation. The scholarship has allowed us to help incredibly gifted and deserving students by alleviating some of the financial burdens of college. Now, these students, so many of whom remind me of my big brother, may truly reach for the stars and achieve their dreams.

The families of East Little Havana in Miami weren’t comfortable using their local space: 81 percent of respondents in a February 2016 neighborhood survey said that safety concerns held them back from going to Riverside Park. “Delincuencia” was the word many Spanish-speaking parents used to describe the area, indicating that they wouldn’t want to expose their children to the activity in the park.

Whether it’s planting shade trees at bus stops, making recycling fun and colorful for kids or getting folks to use less plastic, Miamians are creating easy ways for residents to reduce their carbon footprint every day. Here are five Public Space Challenge winners who’ve used their grants to launch and grow their eco-friendly ideas. Use less plastic VolunteerCleanup.org executive director … Read More