John’s Island Foundation donors and supporters gathered recently for a lovely cocktail reception at the John’s Island Club to hear about last year’s accomplishments and look forward to another year of providing economic support to the community.
Compounding their generosity by ensuring that all donations would go toward grants, local business sponsors had underwritten the reception in its entirety.
The John’s Island Foundation, which allocates its grants in the spring, funds eligible capital projects and key infrastructure expenses of local nonprofit organizations serving the community’s vulnerable populations.
“The president of the foundation, Don Steiner, unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight, but he asked me to welcome everyone on behalf of the entire board and to thank you for your incredible generosity,” said Kathy Balderston, grant review vice president with Theresa Kilman.
She noted that they celebrated their 25th anniversary last year and reviewed several remarkable milestones from their annual report.
“Since our inception 25 years ago, the John’s Island Foundation has given $19 million in grants to those serving the less fortunate in Indian River County. And last year alone, we gave $2.45 million in capital grants, which represented a 76 percent increase over the prior year,” said Balderston, adding that it was thanks to everyone in the room.
A portion of that, she said, went to three leadership grants that were awarded for large, transformative capital projects addressing housing, education and healthcare. Grants were awarded to Habitat for Humanity, for its Citrus Crossing Housing Development; Childcare Resources for its Early Childhood Education Community Center; and Treasure Coast Community Health, for its Pediatric Center.
“The foundation, too, has gotten more nimble about addressing the needs of nonprofits outside of our traditional grant review process. Last fall, as you all know, we jumped in to help recovery efforts after Hurricane Milton,” said Balderston.
Emergency and accelerated grants were provided to Habitat for Humanity, United Against Poverty, the New Port Club, the Veterans Council of Indian River County, and Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic, all of which needed to quickly repair their facilities in order to continue serving the public.
“And this summer, we approved three accelerated grants for emergency facility failures. One went to help purchase a new refrigeration system for United Against Poverty. And for those of you not familiar with United Against Poverty, they are a major player addressing food insecurity.
And that is a huge problem, as you know, right at this very moment,” said Balderston.
“With your continued support we hope to do more. You know, the great beauty of donating to the foundation is that your gift doesn’t just help one organization, it helps dozens of organizations.”
She said grants last year assisted nonprofits that provide care to the disabled, veterans, seniors, children and the homeless, as well as those which address affordable housing, food insecurity, healthcare, preschool education for disadvantaged children, substance abuse and domestic violence.
“Before any grant is made using your funds, proposed capital projects are thoroughly reviewed by your friends and neighbors who comprise our site teams. Collectively, we can touch so many lives; so many more than each of us individually could,” said Balderston.
Before showing a short video celebrating the history of the foundation, Balderston thanked the event sponsors, John’s Island Real Estate Company, Rehmann, the Hill Group, James Stein Architects and Dean Mead; the event organizers, Lisa Bullock, Marsha Floyd and Dee Locke; and the Gifford Youth Orchestra who had provided the delightful entertainment.
“Their instruments are another example of a capital investment made through your generosity,” said Balderston.
The video highlighted the absolute need for the grants and the overall value of the capital funding the foundation provides to these nonprofits, all of which in turn enables them to continue to provide their vital programming.
For more information, visit JohnsIslandFoundation.org.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
