04 Jun FROM DIAPERS TO JOB TRAINING, THE MIAMI FOUNDATION’S COMMUNITY GRANTS INVEST MORE THAN $1.3 MILLION IN MIAMI-DADE NONPROFITS
The average child will use more than 2,700 diapers in the first year of life. At about $0.20 per disposable diaper, the cost of keeping a baby dry can become a breaking point for struggling families – and it’s an expense not covered by food stamps.
That’s where the Miami Diaper Bank, a first-time Community Grants recipient, steps in to help. During the active 2017 hurricane season, the local nonprofit – and Miami’s only diaper bank – provided hundreds of thousands of diapers to families in need. Their goal now is to meet their 2019 Diaper Challenge and reach two million diapers donated by September 1st. They’ll use their $15,000 grant to improve delivery service so they can get closer to reaching their mark.
Miami Diaper Bank is one of 71 local nonprofits sharing $1.3 million from The Miami Foundation. Community Grants provide support to Greater Miami organizations whose initiatives improve local quality of life in three areas: Opportunity – ensuring all residents have equitable access to the same opportunities, Creativity – supporting arts and culture offerings that create community, and Resiliency – making sure Miami-Dade can bounce back from challenges and is a more connected place to live. The grants are made possible by 100+ donors who created permanent funds with the Foundation to support issues that mattered to them and are most pressing for the county.
This year, thanks to a generous $100,000 gift from The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation, The Miami Foundation doubled the total amount of grants to organizations in the Creativity category. “As the signature grant program of The Miami Foundation for decades, Community Grants are fueled by numerous donors who came to us, stepped up and took ownership of a cause in our community,” said Javier Alberto Soto, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation. “We are grateful that the Pérez family set an example by joining this work and investing to make Greater Miami a world-class center for the arts.”
From educating women and girls in low-income neighborhoods on how to preserve their communities in a severe weather crisis (The CLEO Institute) to providing tuition for after-school art programs for 360 students (ProjectArt Miami), Community Grants recipients impact hundreds of thousands of local residents.
The additional $100,000 from The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation will allow many arts organizations, such as Guitars Over Guns Operation, Inc., Exchange for Change and the Community Arts Program, to increase the number of children and residents they serve. Guitars Over Guns will use its $20,000 grant to expand their successful arts mentorship model to North Miami Senior High School. With its $20,000 grant, Exchange for Change will fund the production and distribution of “Don’t Shake the Spoon,” a literary journal of work by incarcerated students enrolled in classes taught by the nonprofit. Meanwhile, the Community Arts Program will use its $20,000 grant to provide area youth with twice-weekly activities they couldn’t otherwise afford, like one-on-one music lessons.
The Foundation will recognize Community Grants recipients at Venture Café Miami’s Thursday Gathering on June 13th during an interactive #VCMTakeover night from 5 to 9 p.m., 1951 NW 7th Ave #600, Miami, FL 33136. The entire community is invited to attend this free event and learn first-hand how these organizations help Greater Miami prosper. View the 71 grantees and learn more about the annual Community Grants program at miamifoundation.org/grantprograms.
About The Miami Foundation: The Miami Foundation partners with donors to champion their causes and improve local quality of life. Since 1967, we’ve done this by taking leadership on civic issues, investing in our community and nurturing philanthropy. Thanks to our more than 1,000 donors, we currently manage close to $350 million in assets and have made $350 million in grants that create opportunities for residents, make Miami-Dade County more resilient and foster home-grown creativity. Learn more at MiamiFoundation.org.
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