The Jewish Community Foundation's Flo Harris Foundation recently awarded $160,700 to support the important work of 36 Jewish and general community nonprofits. The Flo Harris Foundation is dedicated to continuing the generosity for charitable causes exhibited by Flo Harris during her lifetime. The grant recipients are listed below; many of these organizations received partial funding and are still in need of support. If you'd like to make a grant from your JCF Donor Advised Fund to any of the organizations below, please contact Beatrice Fine by email or at (913) 327-4618.
Jewish Community Grants
- BBYO: Kansas City High School and Middle School Programming - Online programming for our local BBYO chapter which serves 227 high school students and 162 middle school students.
- Friends of Sheffield Cemetery: Maintenance - Maintenance of the cemetery where Flo Harris and her family are buried.
- Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy: Financial Assistance - Provides emergency scholarships for HBHA families, many of whom have faced employment and economic changes because of the pandemic.
- Jewish Community Center: J Youth Scholarships - Provides scholarships for youth to participate in J programming. Due to the pandemic, the J is anticipating a greater need for scholarships.
- Jewish Family Services: Programming - Grants were made to support the Priya, Chaplaincy, Help at Home, Jet Express, and Older Adult Care Management programs. Funding was also awarded to provide financial subsidies to clients who are experiencing financial insecurity due to the pandemic.
- Jewish Vocational Services: Emergency Assistance for Clients - Provides eligible families with subsidies of up to $600 to help ameliorate the expenses of rent, groceries, medical bills, and other approved costs.
- KU Hillel: Mental Health Initiative - Professional support for students who are dealing with the increased stress, anxiety and depression associated with social distancing.
- Mitzvah Garden: Beautification and Replacement Plants and Supplies - Provides seeds, seedlings, plants, mulch, compost, and other supplies to grow produce which is then donated to area pantries and shelters. The Mitzvah Garden is also replacing its decorative entrance.
- Moishe House: General Support - Virtual programming for and by Jewish young adults in Kansas City.
- MU Hillel: Programming - Online game nights, cooking classes, and Torah study for students at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
- NCSY: Programming - Virtual activities for students at local Jewish high schools.
- Torah Learning Center: Kosher Meals on Wheels - Support for the hiring of additional cooks and increased cleaning expenses to meet the needs of clients affected by Covid-19.
- Village Shalom: Financial Assistance Program - Underwrites the costs of care for patients who have outlived their financial resources.
General Community Grants
- After the Harvest: Fresh Produce for KC’s Vulnerable - Retrieves cosmetically imperfect produce from distributors and has volunteers pick produce directly from farmers’ fields. This produce is then donated to food banks and other organizations throughout the metro area.
- CASA of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties: Teen Advocacy Program - Matches teen victims of abuse or neglect with a stable adult volunteer who helps improve their lives as they navigate the court system.
- Don Bosco Center: English as a Second Language Program - Many of this organization's ESL students are now unemployed or working in capacities that put them at higher risk for virus exposure, like meat processing operations. Many students and their families have limited or no access to technology and internet at home, so they face additional obstacles in seeking education or employment opportunities.
- Foster Adopt Connect: Operating Expenses - Helps families wishing to adopt or foster neglected children by providing legal advice, behavioral services, and other needed services.
- Giving the Basics: School Nurse Hygiene Project - Provides hygiene products, toilet paper, and personal care items not covered by SNAP or WIC to more than 250,000 individuals at 76 organizations and 350 schools.
- Happy Bottoms: Diaper Supply Program - Supplies diapers and pull-ups to 22,000 Kansas City area children.
- Harmony Project KC: General Support - Provides free after school care for low-income families and introduces the children to music fundamentals. Music teachers are also trained to make referrals to United Way partner agencies if the children’s families face stability challenges.
- Harvesters: General Support - Due to the pandemic, Harvesters expects to see a 64% increase in the number of food insecure individuals, many of whom will experience first time need. They have added 22 new mobile food delivery sites and are also working with schools to provide meals to children while school is not in session.
- Headquarters: Suicide Prevention Programming - Provides comprehensive suicide prevention and outreach to the people of Kansas.
- Hope Faith Ministries: Covid-19 Relief - Provides families and individuals at risk of becoming homeless with three daily meals and shower facilities. Since Covid-19 has hit, they have moved most operations outside; they are facing new operating costs of both indoor and outdoor facilities, as well as an anticipated increase in demand for services.
- Hope House: Domestic Violence Shelter - Provides shelter to more than 4,000 victims of domestic abuse each year through clinical services; court, hospital, child/family, and outreach advocacy; and supervised visitation programs.
- Inclusion Connections: Community Connections - Serves developmentally disabled teens and adults through employment classes, job training, fitness programs, baking class, and a summer camp which helps families when school is not in session.
- Jackson County CASA: Child Advocate Program - Serves children who are victims of abuse and neglect in Jackson County from birth to age 21. Nearly 1,300 young people have been served this year.
- Kansas City Community Garden: General Support - Empowers low-income households, youth and community groups, and service agencies to grow their own vegetables and fruit. Many clients were already vulnerable to food shortages. The current economic situation makes community gardens an even more vital source of safe, affordable food.
- Kids TLC: Thriving Families - Helps provide behavior, developmental, and mental health services to children and teens.
- Operation Breakthrough: Support Services - Provides a safe, loving and educational environment for children in poverty and to empower their families through advocacy, emergency aid and education.
- Phoenix Family Housing: General Support - Empowers children, families and seniors to access the essential resources they need to improve their lives and break generational poverty. Because the children it serves had been dependent on school breakfasts and lunches, they have set up their own meal delivery and food pantry program for the youth in their community.
- Reconciliation Services: General Support - Provides mental health services and other social services programs to vulnerable individuals in Kansas City.
- ReStart: General Support - Provides Kansas City’s most vulnerable population with a continuum of housing services. Serves all homeless populations including singles, families, couples, individuals experiencing mental health illnesses, LGBTQ+ identifying individuals, veterans, unaccompanied youth, non-traditional families and persons with HIV/AIDS.
- Safehome: General Support - SafeHome is the only domestic violence shelter in Johnson County. Last year they served 140 children and 173 adults and provided 8,311 hours of therapy.
- Shepherd's Center of Kansas City, Kansas: Minor Home Repair - Provides at least 120 low-income seniors with minor home repairs that help them to age in place safely.
- Sherwood Center: General Support - Educates, equips, and empowers children and adults with autism as well as other developmental disabilities to promote independence in family and community life.
