By Amy Woods
While Impact 100 Palm Beach County will not have the Grand Awards on April 15, it plans to distribute every dollar donated by its members to five nonprofits serving South County.
The meeting previously set to take place at Lynn University in Boca Raton has been canceled amid coronavirus concerns, and as of press time, contingencies had yet to be finalized.
“We’re not going to hold the live event like we have in the past, but we are still going to announce our finalists and award the grants,” President Kathy Adkins said. “That’s the good news.”
Last year, Impact 100 gave five organizations in five focus areas $100,000 grants. An additional $43,000 was divided evenly among five semifinalists. This year, the goal is to raise $600,000, enabling the organization to provide additional funds to the semifinalists.
“There’s so much need in the community, and that’s why we’re continuously trying to grow our membership,” said Adkins, noting that more than 100 applications seeking the financial aid were submitted. “People think that our area wouldn’t typically have these needs, but they exist right in our backyard.”
Members agree to donate $1,000 when they join as well as attend one meeting — the Grand Awards — at which they cast one vote. The vote follows presentations by each of the five finalists about the program or project they want funded.
The five focus areas are arts, culture and historic preservation; education; environment and animal welfare; family; and health and wellness.
“The needs include everything from feeding underserved people, getting them the resources that they need, to helping our environment and our coastal areas,” Adkins said. “There’s everything from trying to provide music and art and education for children to the health and wellness piece.”
When, where and how the vote will take place is something the executive committee will have to decide.
“Our team has been hard at work, creating a virtual version of our Grand Awards event for our 2019-2020 grant cycle,” Adkins wrote in an email blast announcing the cancellation. “This will allow us to safely still fulfill our promise to our community to award five $100,000 grants to our local nonprofits.
For information, call 561-336-4623 or visit www.impact100pbc.org.
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