EBCF Provides Hurricane Recovery Funds
Winter Park, FL– Help is on the way to local nonprofits who were impacted by Hurricane Irma. The Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation began releasing $150,000 of unrestricted operating grants to nonprofit organizations impacted by or providing relief services to Central Florida residents during and after Hurricane Irma.
“Through our own rapid review and the Rollins College Edyth Bush Institute for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Hurricane survey, we could identify nonprofit organizations that were helping residents who were now in need of help.” said Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation President David Odahowski.
Grants are being awarded to organizations providing food, shelter and financial relief to affected individuals and families. Funds to the Mustard Seed, which lost 2,000 square feet of warehousing space but continued to provide services, will help the organization purchase a third delivery truck and provide necessary household goods and furniture as people repair their homes or relocate to new housing.
Funds to Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services will support counseling services as well as food and financial relief for residents of any faith. These organizations are seeing many new clients seeking services for the first, likely only, time because of the storm.
A partial list organizations receiving funds includes: Second Harvest Food Bank, which supplies most of the area food pantries; Hope Helps in Seminole County; Meals on Wheels and Seniors First for providing comfort and assistance to area seniors who were displaced or unsettled by the storm; and the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association, which is assisting vulnerable individuals and families who are facing legal, mostly housing, issues as a result of the hurricane.
Odahowski praised other local funders working together to support the nonprofit organizations in the community, many of which kept their doors open and provided services under challenging circumstances.
He shared the comments of former CNN news anchor Daryn Kagan: “Bad things do happen in the world, like war, natural disasters, disease. But out of those situations always arise stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”
Since its creation in 1973, the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation has issued more than 3,833 grants to 872 organizations, primarily in Central Florida, totaling more than $110 million. Board Members are Richard J. Walsh, Chairman; Matthew W. Certo, Vice Chairman & Corporate Secretary; David A. Odahowski, President & CEO; Herbert W. Holm, Founding Director; Elizabeth A. Dvorak;Anne B. Kerr, Ph.D.; Patricia J. Engfer; and John A. Riley. For more information on the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, please visit www.edythbushchari.wpengine.com.