The Kate And Justin Rose Foundation Donates $1 Million To Blessings In A Backpack Orlando Chapter
Professional golfer Justin Rose and his wife, Kate Rose, have announced a $1 million donation to the Blessings in a Backpack Orlando chapter to help feed elementary school children who might otherwise go hungry on the weekend. This donation from the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation will go on to immediately feed 1,000 children, and help enhance the food bags they are given.
The newly-announced donation will also help start a match program for the Orlando nonprofit, founded in May 2020, to get volunteers on board to start new programs for the organization. The gift has been set up to have maximum immediate impact on feeding children, while also creating sustainability for the organization.
This $1 million donation is in addition to their original grant of $1.15 million to found the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation Chapter of Blessings in a Backpack, Orlando, affectionately known as ‘Rose Blessings Orlando.’
Blessings in a Backpack mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. As closures caused by COVID-19 lead to a rise in unemployment and poverty, it is projected that 18 million children nationwide are experiencing food insecurity. That’s one in four American children who may be struggling with access to food.
The consequences of hunger are much more than a growling stomach. Poor nutrition can result in a weaker immune system, increased hospitalization, lower IQ, shorter attention spans, and lower academic achievement. Children are fed during the school week by federal government programs. We want to make sure they’re getting nutritional meals over the weekend, too, so that they can show up for school on Monday nourished and ready to learn. For more information, please visit Orlando.blessingsinabackpack.org.
Feeding hungry tummies and curious minds is what the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation is all about. Its focus is on a three prong approach to improving children’s lives by providing nutritional support, funding education, and providing ‘first exposure’ positive life experiences for children. Through nutrition, the Foundation teamed up with Blessings in a Backpack beginning in 2009 to provide weekend nutrition to children who would otherwise go hungry. Their support has grown over the years, ultimately providing more than 500,000 hunger-free weekends to more than 15,000 children over the course of 11 years. Seeing what a huge impact they have had on feeding food-insecure children in Orlando, they put more resources behind their ongoing efforts. A grant of $1.15 million was made in 2019 to found an official chapter of Blessings in a Backpack in Orlando, to ensure sustainability and to reach their goal of feeding 16,000 children by 2030. Because of the increased need due to COVID-19 and the success the Orlando Chapter has had in reaching children, the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation has agreed to invest an additional $1 million to feed 1,000 more Orlando-area children immediately, to create a matching gift pool for grassroots/volunteer-led programs, and to accelerate their goal of feeding 16,000 children.
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