Tampa, FL – (July 17, 2018) – Amscot Financial, a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, recently awarded mini-grants of $150 to $5,000 in support of 18 different non-profit service organizations located in the Florida communities where the company serves several million consumers.
“Doing the right thing means doing right by our community,” says Ian MacKechnie, Founder and CEO of Amscot Financial. “By supporting local organizations we can help create a meaningful impact here in our own backyard.”
Mini-grants went to the following organizations:
- 93rd Street Community Development Corp- STARS SUMMER CAMP EMPOWERMENT, Miami. For more than 15 years, 93rd ST CDC has devoted its energy to passionately advocate for the hungry, needy, and politically under-represented members of the community. The Stars (Students-Teachers Achieving Remarkable Success) summer camp is six weeks, filled with education, swimming, recreation and empowerment. The camp is designed to provide a safe learning environment for youth K-8th. STARS provides special and intense assistance in Literacy, Life Skills, Physical Fitness and Crime Prevention. For more information, please visit: www.93cdc.org
- Alliance of Involved Ministers, Inc., Bunnell. The program provides a summer camp that serves breakfast, lunch and snacks daily, Monday through Friday. They provide field trips; continue the educational practice of reading, writing and arithmetic. Throughout the year various agencies in the county send speakers twice weekly to promote the children's social and community awareness, as well as build self-esteem. Year round, the children will be able to meet a few evenings during the week to watch movies, play games, and talk with other youth of their age range under the guidance of responsible adults.
- Benito Middle School, Tampa. Benito’s media center has evolved into a place where students come to develop life skills by making things and collaborating on ideas. They offer an after-school program called Makerspace, and invite students to come into the media center before school and during lunch to work on their creations in a collaborative environment. The media center is always expanding the educational opportunities and their goal is to be able to raise sufficient funds to be able to purchase a Cricut Maker and a 3D printer to provide access for students and faculty. For more information, please visit: benito.mysdhc.org
- Children’s Safety Village, Orlando. They have been a leader in educating children about safety in the Central Florida Community for nearly 25 years. This organization has educated thousands of Central Florida children on fire and pedestrian safety, bike safety, water safety and other safety skills all with the mission of preventing injuries and fatalities of children through lifesaving education, advocacy and leadership. Located on 8 acres next to the Central Florida Fairgrounds, the CSV has its own miniature city, complete with miniature buildings, paved streets and sidewalks, a fire safety house with a working smoke machine, a functioning traffic light and railroad crossing and a water safety complex for swimming lessons. Children learn through a realistic approach in recognizing safety hazards found in their everyday life. For more information, please visit: www.childrensafetyvillage.org
- Deliver the Dream, Ft. Lauderdale. Founded in 1998, they are a non-profit, community benefit organization whose mission is to deliver highly effective retreats to enable those going through crisis or chronic illness to regain strength, mend spirits and become families and kids again. Families attend retreats free of charge and are provided the life-changing opportunity to escape the overwhelming stress of a serious illness. Families find time to reunite, enjoy recreational activities, forge new friendships, and gain support from other families also coping with a similar situation. For more information, please visit: www.deliverthedream.org
- Dress For Success Greater Orlando, Orlando. They are a volunteer-run organization serving women throughout Central Florida. Their chapter was created to fill a critical need, providing professional attire for low-income women entering the workforce, while also providing career development tools and network support. More than 70 percent of the women they serve are single mothers raising an average of 2-3 children. All the women served live under the poverty level prior to joining Dress For Success Greater Orlando. For more information, please visit: greaterorlando.dressforsuccess.org
- Faces of Courage Cancer Camps, Tampa. Providing free outings and medically supervised overnight camps for Adults and Children diagnosed with any type of cancer or blood disorders. The Kid's Camp will be held November 30 - December 2 for children ages 2-12 with cancer and their well siblings. The weekend is a respite weekend for the parents as they entertain the children with typical camp activities like canoeing, fishing, art and crafts, archery, guest visitors, ice cream social, Super Hero Dance and tribal drumming to name a few. All programs are provided at no cost to the families. For more information, please visit: www.FacesofCourage.org
- Foundation for Community Driven Innovation, Tampa. FCDI supports a range of programs, each serving the mission of academic and community development. Their programs help student robotics teams, contribute to developing economic capacity, and support inspired living and learning experiences. For more information, please visit: www.ffcdi.org
- Helping Hands Community Outreach, Miami. They created a Teen Elite club to provide a safe place, outside the confines of school and home for teens ages 14 - 18 years old. They will endeavor to give youth a sense of ownership, and the pride of belonging to an "Elite Club” through various workshops and hands on projects Helping Hands will engage youth with Social Activities, Community Outreach Projects, Jr. Life Guard/Aquatic Activities, Civic Engagement, Entrepreneurial Training, Homework help, and a full Wellness Program.
- Jackson Educational Foundation, Inc., Tampa. They provide tools, scholarships, and support services for low income to moderate income families and individuals to achieve their goals towards educational success. They are having their 4th Annual Back to School Bash on August 5th. They will be giving out free backpacks, school supplies and lunch to families in need. For more information, please visit: www.jacksoneftampa.org
- Lauderhill Police Department, Lauderhill. Anti-Bullying Walk-a-Thon is an initiative to raise awareness and promote activities that help youth make ethical and healthy choices. The campaign is proposed for October 2018 to unite with other communities around the world participating in the Global Anti-Bullying Walkathon. The event offers to educate and raise awareness against bullying. Youth will participate for free and will be provided with an orange t-shirt to be worn during the walk that will display a message stating; “Lauderhill Police Department – You’re Not Alone, We’re Here for You.” For more information, please visit: www.lauderhill-fl.gov/department
- National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Tampa. They advocate on behalf of black women and girls to promote leadership development and gender equity in the areas of health, education and economic empowerment. For more information, please visit: www.ncbw.org
- New Jerusalem M.B. Church, Tampa. On August 11-12 they are hosting a Mental Health Conference “Shape Mind, and Body and Soul.” They want to bring awareness to Mental Health and Mental Issues and will be honoring students scholarships for seniors going into this field. For more information, please visit: www.newjerusalembc.org
- People Helping People, Spring Hill. They are dedicated to trying to put an end to hunger in Hernando County. PHP runs a Weekend Blessings Program that feeds 685 children each week with a weekend food backpack delivered to their schools each week. This backpack contains ready to eat food for all the children in the household to keep them fed in a food insecure housing environment. These children are served during the week at their school through a free/reduced lunch program but there is no other agency that provides free food to these students for the weekend. PHP started this program in 2009 feeding 50 children and they are now feed upwards of 685 students per week. For more information, please visit: www.phpinhc.org
- Special Olympics Florida, Clermont. They provide a free year-round sports training, athletic competition and medical care for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Through quality-based athletic programs, the athletes they serve are empowered to achieve healthier lifestyles, gain self-confidence and form meaningful friendships. For more information, please visit: www.specialolympicsflorida.org
- Solid Rock Community Church, Kissimmee. They will be sponsoring their 10th Annual Back to School Extravaganza, Saturday, August 4, 2018. They will provide each child with a bundle of school supplies to help the needy students have a great start. The bundles will contain the necessary tools such as pens, pencils, notebooks, crayons, folders, binders, loose-leaf paper etc. For more information, please visit: www.solidrockchurchofgod.org
- Tiny Hands Foundation, Sarasota. On Saturday August 4th 2018 the Back-to-School Backpack Brigade will attempt to provide more than 1,500 to Sarasota and Bradenton community school children in need with new backpacks filled with school supplies at the Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota. This will benefit thousands of local school children in need. For more information, please visit: www.tinyhandsfoundation.org
- We're HERE To HELP Inc., Tampa. Their mission is to guide economically and academically challenged students as they complete educational requirements needed to become valuable members of the workforce and earn gainful, living wage employment. For more information, please visit: www.whth.org
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., Amscot Financial is a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, including cash advances, check cashing, bill payment, money transfers, prepaid access cards and money orders. Amscot Financial currently operates 236 retail financial service centers throughout Florida and employs close to 2,000 associates. Amscot Financial has been recognized by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as one of Tampa Bay’s Best Places to Work for five years (2008-2012) & was recently named as one of Americas’ Best Midsize Employers by Forbes.