Recipient Organizations of Grants/Contributions
Be A Star Foundation
We are a 501(c)(3) charity that raises funds for the Pediatric Oncology Support Team (P.O.S.T.) and the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation to assist all ill children and their families in our local area.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties
For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor- and volunteer-supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country. We develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin Counties was founded as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Martin County in 1986 to bring these proven programs to the Treasure Coast. In 2010 the Martin County agency expanded to include the Palm Beaches, creating an overall territory of over 2,000 square miles and a population of more than 1.5 million residents.
Boys & Girls Club of Martin County
For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs have been helping kids reach their full potential. Boys & Girls Clubs of America had its beginnings in 1860 with three women in Hartford, Connecticut: Mary Goodwin, Alice Goodwin, and Elizabeth Hammersley. Believing that boys who roamed the streets should have a positive alternative, they organized the first Club. A cause was born. In 1989, Hobe Sound resident, Margaret “Peggy” Cole learned of a local child who was a National Merit Scholar. Remarkably, this young person had lived in 17 different foster homes in his short life. Mrs. Cole decided that he and others like him deserved to experience the benefits of a Boys & Girls Club in Hobe Sound. Peggy gathered community support and found a strong partner in Hays Clark. Together, they founded the first Boys & Girls Club in Martin County. Times have changed and programs have grown since 1989, but the need identified by Peggy Cole and Hays Clark for affordable youth development opportunities remains strong. Today, parents agree Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County is benefiting their children and preparing them for great futures!
Children’s Books on Tape
Children’s Books on Tape was founded in the fall of 2000 as a community service project. It has since evolved into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Our organization reaches out to children in disadvantaged, lower-income schools by providing elementary level recorded books-on-tape. We package recorded books along with tape recorders into Listening Libraries, each comprising 50 books and six tape recorders. Listening libraries are then donated to elementary school classrooms and media centers. Since its founding, Children’s Books on Tape has donated more 6,000 recorded books-on-tape and 600 tape recorders to lower-income schools in California, Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, and the People’s Republic of China. We have helped thousands of children brighten their futures by helping them gain the power of education and reap its rewards later in life.
Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast
The Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast (TCM) is in the heart of Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach. The Children’s Museum opened in August 2008, and it has welcomed more than 400,000 visitors. Additionally, more than 50,000 students have experienced the power of education through our field trip and outreach programs. The museum continues to grow and flourish each year. Plans include expansion of the explorers’ gallery. With a mission to offer children and families a place to explore and learn through hands-on, interactive activities, the Children’s Museum exhibits will reflect Florida’s unique character. Like children’s museums throughout the country, the Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast exists to support the very simple, but profound truth, that children learn through play and that for the youngest among us, play provides the essential foundation for lifelong learning.
Council on Aging of Martin County
At the Council on Aging of Martin County, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to live life to the fullest—no matter their age. We were founded as a private, 501(c)(3) organization in 1974 to provide services tailored to the specific needs of seniors. More than 40 years later, we are the longest-serving senior services agency in the county offering the most comprehensive resources for elders, their families, and their caregivers. Our mission is to be the unparalleled resource of expertise, programming and support for seniors in Martin County. Our vision is to inspire a community that embraces, uplifts and encourages seniors to maintain lives of quality and purpose. We provide programs in support of this mission, including Meals on Wheels, an adult day program, senior-focused primary medical care, care management, caregiver support, and a robust offering of educational, cultural, and wellness programs specifically designed for seniors. The Kane Center is the home of the Council on Aging of Martin County. The Kane Center is specially designed for seniors of all capabilities and walks of life—as well as their families and caregivers—to come together in a secure, comfortable atmosphere where they truly feel at home.
El Sol Jupiter’s Neighborhood Resource Center
Our mission is to improve the quality of life for the residents of Jupiter and surrounding communities by providing services primarily to day laborers, their children and families. In Jupiter, an “open-air labor market” began to develop on Center Street. Hundreds of day laborers (primarily Mayan immigrants from Guatemala and Southern Mexico) congregated daily on Center Street in an unorganized outdoor labor market where employers picked them up for work. Neighbors complained to town officials about traffic safety, loitering, and a drop in real estate values. Laborers were subject to wage theft, unsafe work environments, and abuse. The cultural tensions in Jupiter were escalating. A group of residents, immigrants, faith-based groups, and university and town officials coalesced to address the problem. In 2006, that grassroots, public-private coalition resulted in the creation of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit: El Sol, Jupiter’s Neighborhood Resource Center. El Sol was formed as a result of a community effort to transform the problem of an unsafe and contentious open-air day-labor market into a safe and productive resource center in which all people can achieve their highest potential.
Florida Oceanographic Society
Florida Oceanographic Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 with the mission to inspire environmental stewardship of Florida’s coastal ecosystems through education, research, and advocacy. Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center is a 57-acre marine life nature center located on Hutchinson Island in Stuart, Florida, situated between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean. As a leading state and nationally recognized environmental organization, Florida Oceanographic offers educational programs to people of all ages and conducts research and restoration programs that lead to healthy coastal ecosystems.
Fort Lauderdale Historical Society
History Fort Lauderdale brings the stories of our diverse community to life through educational experiences, cultural exhibits, research, and preservation for future generations. History Fort Lauderdale, formerly Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, believes that a sense of history is fundamental to understanding human experience, and therefore, collects, preserves, and shares material from our community’s past, so that present and future generations can comprehend more fully their predecessors, their community, and themselves. With education as the primary focus, we offer public lectures and workshops; publish teacher resource materials; arrange school and general group tours and activities; support scholarly research through significant research assistance; maintain a 1907 house museum and three other 1905 historic structures, and a museum of changing and permanent exhibitions; and operate a research center that has functioned uninterrupted for 51 years.
Foundation for Teaching Economics
Established in 1975, the mission of the Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE) is to introduce young individuals to an economic way of thinking about national and international issues, and to promote excellence in economic education by helping teachers of economics become more effective educators. The FTE focuses its efforts on the secondary education level and provides programs and teaching resources which target primarily, but not exclusively, the social studies curriculum. FTE is known nationally for its emphasis on active learning and the engaging activities and lessons used to teach economics. All lessons and programs are correlated with both the Common Core state standards and all 50 standards in economic education. A unique feature of FTE student programs is the integration of economics content with leadership development. Participants learn to use economic reasoning skills as part of their decision-making process. FTE operates a program of the Fund for American Studies (www.tfas.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization based in Washington, D.C.
Institute for Justice
The Institute for Justice is the national law firm for liberty. IJ litigates to limit the size and scope of government power and to ensure that all Americans have the right to control their own destinies as free and responsible members of society. Since 1991, IJ has come to the aid of individuals who want to do the simple things every American has the right to do—including own property, start and grow a business, speak freely about commerce or politics, and provide their children with a good education—but can’t because they find the government in their way. The IJ combines cutting-edge litigation, sophisticated media relations, strategic research, boots-on-the-ground advocacy and much more to fight on behalf of those individuals who are denied their constitutional rights. Despite the challenge of taking on powerful government officials and entrenched precedents, IJ is successful in winning over 70 percent of its cases in the court of law, in the court of public opinion, or through legislative reforms.
Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast
At Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast, through our relevant, authentic, and experiential financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship programs, we are inspiring a generation to be financially capable and tenacious. The Florida counties we cover are Palm Beach, Martin, Hendry, Indian River, and St. Lucie. Junior Achievement is the recognized leader in empowering young people to own their economic success through volunteer-led, experiential learning. We are dedicated to providing a positive, enriching learning experience free of bias. Junior Achievement welcomes K-12 students, volunteers and potential staff regardless of race, religion, age, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic.
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
Founded in 1962, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation is the nation’s oldest and largest provider of need-based scholarships to military children. For more than 55 years, we’ve been providing access to affordable education for the children of Marine and Navy Corpsmen attending post–high school, undergraduate, and career technical education programs. Marines make legendary sacrifices. Sending their children to school shouldn’t be one of them. That’s why at the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation we’ve been honoring Marines by educating their children for more than half a century. At the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation we’re proud to be governed and staffed by dynamic and experienced professionals with a passion for supporting Marines and investing in education.
Martin County Taxpayer Association
Founded on January 15, 1950, the MCTA is the oldest taxpayers’ association in the state of Florida. Our basic purpose is to review, monitor, and report on tax and other financial issues that impact the taxpayers of Martin County. The MCTA is a managed by non-paid volunteer leaders who are elected to the board or become officers of the association. As a part of these activities, we prepare newspaper articles, commentary, and special reports and analyses that may be useful in communicating with the citizens and taxpayers, government officials, private sector and nonprofit leaders, and those who may be supportive of our guardian efforts. We also conduct public forums to educate the public and the media. Members come from a wide slice of the population of the county and provide a supportive climate for the activities of the association. MCTA has earned the reputation of being fair and balanced and instrumental in influencing changes in key financial matters of the county.
Martin Health Foundation
Since 1939, Martin Health System has provided life-saving care to the residents of the Treasure Coast—today, we serve 500,000 people. The Martin Health Foundation was created in 1983 and has raised more than $159 million since its inception. These funds help our community have access to innovative technologies and equipment, skilled nurses and physicians, and new services such as open-heart surgery. As the only nonprofit 501(c)(3) hospital in St. Lucie and Martin counties, we rely on gifts to provide the medical excellence our community expects and deserves.
Mayo Foundation
Mayo Clinic’s mission is to inspire hope and contribute to health and well-being by providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education and research. Our primary value is the needs of the patient come first. Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic, leads one of the largest not‐for‐profit, academic health systems in the U.S., with $14 billion in annual revenues and 65,000 employees. With a focus on caring for patients with serious, complex illnesses, Mayo Clinic operates in five states and cares for more than one million people a year, from all 50 states and nearly 140 countries. Mayo Clinic is ranked #1 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
Nicklaus Children’s Health Care
Nicklaus Children’s Health System is the region’s only healthcare system exclusively for children. In addition to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and a growing number of outpatient centers located throughout the tri-county area, the health system includes Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation, the organization’s fundraising arm; Pediatric Specialists of America Inc., a nonprofit physician practice subsidiary; a management services organization; an ambulatory surgery center; and a line of children’s wellness products branded KidzStuff™. Our vision is to be where the children are. Ultimately, this means being there through all stages of health and life, both physically and emotionally—to be a trusted partner to children and their families, not only in times of illness, but throughout their life journey. Our mission is to inspire hope and promote lifelong health by providing the best care to every child.
Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is a nonprofit legal organization that defends Americans’ liberties when threatened by government overreach and abuse. We sue the government when it violates Americans’ constitutional rights—and win! Each year, PLF represents hundreds of Americans, free of charge, who seek to improve their lives but are stymied by government. We give them their day in court to vindicate their rights and set a lasting precedent to protect everyone else. At PLF, we believe in individual liberty: when people are free to live peacefully and productively, without interference by government, they improve themselves, their families, and their communities. The American citizens who fight the law with PLF come from every corner of the country and from every walk of life. Even when government stacks the deck against them, they choose to stand up for liberty and justice for all.
Pathfinders of Palm Beach-Martin County Scholarship
The Pathfinder High School Scholarship Awards are presented each year to high school seniors in Palm Beach and Martin counties who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in 18 academic, vocational, and athletic categories. These seniors are nominated by their schools; they do not self-apply. The Pathfinder Awards program is one of the largest and most comprehensive high school scholarship programs in the state. All public and private high schools in Palm Beach and Martin counties are eligible to participate. Each year, more than $171,000 in scholarships is awarded to 54 of the best and brightest high school seniors in Palm Beach and Martin counties. Pathfinders is sponsored by The Palm Beach Post.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. We follow three key steps to serve local communities: First, we assess the needs of each community in which we serve. We work to understand the obstacles, hardships, and challenges native to the area’s particular population. Next, we build local programs designed to offer immediate relief, short-term care, and long-term growth in the areas that will best benefit the community. Then, we offer the local programs to the local community, working to continually optimize their efficacy via spiritual, physical, and emotional service. The many programs offered in Palm Beach County include transitional housing for homeless males and homeless male veterans, social services, holiday assistance, youth programming, athletics, and more.
The Education Foundation of Martin County
The mission of the Education Foundation of Martin County (EFMC) is to enrich and enhance educational opportunities for all students and teachers, in the Martin County School District, through effective fundraising efforts, positive collaborative partnerships, innovative programming, and efficient allocation of resources. The EFMC is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), community investment organization comprised of business leaders, community volunteers, and school officials with the common goal of enriching and enhancing the quality of education for students and educators in Martin County’s public schools. The Foundation strives to increase community involvement and financial support of the educational process, encourage effective instruction, strengthen student motivation, promote academic achievement, and create initiatives that support dedicated and creative teachers; thus, supporting excellence in education!
The Elliott Museum and Historical Society of Martin County
The Historical Society of Martin County is the parent organization of the Elliott Museum and House of Refuge Museum. Both museums showcase a wide variety of exhibits, collections, and lectures, all designed to serve the interests of people who live in and visit Florida’s Treasure Coast. The Elliott Museum offers a variety of collections, including vintage cars, baseball artifacts, artwork, Americana, rotating exhibits in the Changing Exhibitions Gallery, an art studio with classes, a theater, a tribute to local philanthropists Frances Langford and Ralph Evinrude, a Museum Store, a student art exhibit, and much more. The House of Refuge showcases what life was like for the Keeper and his family in turn-of-the-century Florida.
The Heritage Foundation
As the nation’s largest, most broadly supported conservative research and educational institution, the Heritage Foundation has been the bastion of the American conservative movement since our founding in 1973. More than 500,000 dues-paying members support our vision to build an America where freedom, prosperity, opportunity, and civil society flourish. The mission of the Heritage Foundation is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. We believe the principles and ideas of the American Founding are worth conserving and renewing. As policy entrepreneurs, we believe the most effective solutions are consistent with those ideas and principles. Heritage’s staff pursues the Foundation’s mission by performing timely, accurate research on key policy issues and effectively marketing these findings to our primary audiences: members of Congress, key congressional staff members, policymakers in the executive branch, the nation’s news media, and the academic and policy communities.
The NRA Foundation
Established in 1990, the NRA Foundation, Inc. (“NRA Foundation”), is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that raises tax-deductible contributions in support of a wide range of firearm-related public interest activities of the National Rifle Association of America and other organizations that defend and foster the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans. These activities are designed to promote firearms and hunting safety, to enhance marksmanship skills of those participating in the shooting sports, and to educate the general public about firearms in their historic, technological and artistic context. Funds granted by the NRA Foundation benefit a variety of constituencies throughout the United States including children, youth, women, individuals with physical disabilities, gun collectors, law enforcement officers, hunters, and competitive shooters.
Treasure Coast Hospice
Founded in 1982, Treasure Coast Hospice is a nonprofit organization of skilled professionals and dedicated volunteers serving patients and families in Martin and St. Lucie counties. Our mission is to provide access to compassionate, caring, expert, and professional hospice and grief support services to patients and families at the end of life. Our vision is a world where everyone has choices about their care and how to live at all stages of life. By creating an environment of open communication, we help you plan for and navigate serious or advanced illnesses, and we support your decisions to live well—and as you choose—throughout your journey. As a community nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, we have proudly served the residents of Martin and St. Lucie counties since 1982, becoming nationally recognized for the quality of our care and our range of services. This high level of achievement is possible thanks to a highly qualified staff, volunteers who are passionate about caring for individuals and their families, and a board of directors deeply committed to our mission.
Virginia Tech Foundation
The Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc., is located in scenic Blacksburg, Virginia, adjacent to the northwest corner of the Virginia Tech campus in the University Gateway Center. The foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit nonstock corporation established in 1948, provides private financial support to enable the forward progress of Virginia Tech. Through successful asset management and the generosity of Virginia Tech alumni and friends, the foundation continues to increase its real estate portfolio, endowment value, and support to university initiatives. The foundation’s real estate portfolio includes properties across the state of Virginia as well as Switzerland. These properties range from innovational, such as the Corporate Research Center and the Virginia Tech Research Center-Arlington, to academic, which include the Center for European Studies & Architecture and the Reynolds Homestead, to recreational, which encompass the Hotel Roanoke and the Pete Dye River Course. This diverse portfolio provides program facilities and generates private resources to enable Virginia Tech to invent the future.
YMCA of the Treasure Coast
The Y is a cause-driven charitable organization committed to strengthening community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. We put Judeo-Christian principles into practice through programs to build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. The Y nurtures the potential of every child and teen, improves the nation’s health and well-being, and provides opportunities to give back and support neighbors. We change lives! We make sure that everyone, no matter their age, gender, race or ability, is welcomed as part of the YMCA family. YMCA members are what makes the Y so special. This is where friends and families come together to strengthen spirit, mind and body.
Coalition for Property Rights
The Coalition for Property Rights originated in 2001 when Doug Doudney, a fourth-generation Orlando businessman, founded the organization with other business leaders. Their purpose was to protect private property rights from governmental regulatory overreach at the local level and educate property owners across Florida as to their rights. From those early, successful days, CPR-FL, led by executive directors Carol Saviak and Dan Peterson, expanded the work beyond the local to the state and national levels speaking out against unreasonable and extreme government efforts to unconstitutionally restrict the use of private property rights. For a brief time, CPR was a policy center for the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, Florida. In 2018, however, it reset its status as an independent advocacy movement. Today, CPR-FL advocates for property rights at all government levels and leads a growing movement of advocates across Florida while networking with think tanks and other advocates across the United States. We operate as a Florida nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation.
Cutler Scholarship Fund
College-bound students from Cutler Maine can be awarded scholarship funding from the Cutler Scholars Fund (CSF), a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-free entity created solely for giving Cutler youth a monetary boost in their endeavors for higher education. All donations, whether a one-time or annual scholarship, or a gift will always be accepted with the specifications of the donor. Donations to any of our students’ education are tax deductible, and every cent is earmarked for education, not administration or any other purpose.
Estella’s Brilliant Bus
Estella’s Brilliant Bus, formerly known as Project Aspiration, is a customized mobile learning center, designed to travel to communities and deliver services to children and families throughout the state of Florida, the nation, and the world. Estella’s Brilliant Bus was designed and created by Estella Pyfrom. The mission of Estella’s Brilliant Bus is to provide a mobile instructional technology and training system that creates opportunities for self-paced educational learning. We employ this educational tool primarily in underserved and under resourced areas with two primary goals: (1) empowering children and their families with lifelong learning skills, and (2) providing access to instructional learning technology while partnering with community agencies and educational stakeholders. Estella’s Brilliant Bus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
Hospice Care of Southeast Florida
HospiceCare of Southeast Florida, Inc., is a hospice care provider in Fort Lauderdale. Hospice care is prescribed for critically ill individuals with a life expectancy of six months or less. The primary goal of this care is keeping patients as comfortable as possible throughout the end stages of life. These comfort measures include pain management and methods for minimizing disease-related symptoms. Hospice care can be provided in the home or at a hospital, long-term care facility, or stand-alone hospice house.