For 160 years, Boys & Girls Clubs have navigated times of crisis to provide safe places for children and teens and have continued this critical response work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County is pleased to announce that Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), through the NextEra Energy Foundation, has gifted the nonprofit $37,500 to help support and uplift youth in the communities it serves this summer.
“As a recipient of this grant from FPL, we will be able to continue welcoming more than a thousand children to our summer camp program offered at the club and virtually, and offer important mentoring and emotional support services to help children prepare for back to school in what continues to be a tumultuous time for them,” said Jaene Miranda, president & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. “We continue to do whatever it takes to keep our kids and staff protected from COVID-19, and this summer, we also have a responsibility to increase support for families that face additional challenges with remote learning, work disruptions, and potential illness and health concerns.”
In its latest phase of COVID-19 relief, FPL will be awarding a total of $250,000 summer engagement grants to Boys & Girls Clubs across its service area (19 counties) to support programming that helps ensure families, primarily in minority and disadvantaged communities who have been impacted by COVID, have access to meals and fresh groceries, resources to keep youth engaged and learning throughout the summer, and critical mental health and mentoring services.
“FPL has a longstanding relationship with the Boys & Girls Club. Over the years, we’ve partnered to support various programming to serve over 180,000 underserved youth across the state,” said FPL Vice President of External Affairs and Economic Development Pam Rauch. “As we continue to realize the overall impact of COVID-19 on our youth, clubs need support from the community now more than ever.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, NextEra Energy, Inc. and its family of companies have committed more than $4 million in emergency assistance to partner organizations working on the frontlines of the crisis to provide critical support to the most vulnerable members of our communities. Funds distributed to date have included providing critical assistance for basic needs like housing, food and healthcare, funding much-needed hunger relief efforts for food insecure populations, and supporting underserved students with digital tools for remote learning.
