It was announced on April 22 that four organizations have been granted a total of $35,000 from the Winter Park Health Foundation to provide support to the local community during COVID-19. The funds will be used to address food insecurity and financial hardship on income-constrained families and will help feed healthcare workers on the front lines of this pandemic.
The organizations set to receive the grants are the Heart of Florida United Way ALICE Recovery Fund for COVID-19, Joe R. Lee Boys & Girls Club in Eatonville, Second Harvest Food Bank, and the Winter Park Improvement Foundation. The largest portion of funding, $20,000, was distributed to the Heart of Florida United Way ALICE Recovery Fund for COVID-19. The ALICE Recovery Fund provides support for rent, mortgage, and utility costs to “asset-limited, income-restrained, employed” individuals who have been impacted financially due to COVID-19. Support will be focused in Eatonville, Maitland, and Winter Park.
The Joe R. Lee Boys & Girls Club received $5,000 of funding to assist Eatonville families facing food insecurity and in need of financial relief.
Second Harvest Food Bank also collected $5,000 from the Winter Park Health Foundation, an amount matched by AmeriFactors, a Celebration-based business funding company, totaling in a $10,000 grant to support its initiative designed to help feed older adults in Eatonville who are particularly at risk of contracting the virus.
The final $5,000 dollars in grant money was given to the Winter Park Improvement Foundation to help fund THRIVE Winter Park’s efforts to “Feed the Frontline.” This initiative is providing food to the healthcare professionals responding to COVID-19 simultaneously supporting local restaurants through the purchase of those meals
Winter Park Health Foundation also announced it will continue to monitor the immediate and long-term effects of COVID-19 in Eatonville, Maitland, and Winter Park alongside other philanthropic leaders in the community and provide support however possible.