15 Jul PHILANTHROPIST LOIS POPE LAUNCHES $50,000 SOCIAL MEDIA MATCH CAMPAIGN TO BENEFIT PALM BEACH COUNTY FOOD BANK LOIS’ FOOD4KIDS PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN
Distinguished Florida philanthropist Lois Pope “likes” the work that the Palm Beach County Food Bank does to ensure that no child in the county goes hungry so much that she is now giving other local residents the opportunity to “share” her commitment to the cause.
The Manalapan resident is launching today a $50,000 social media-based matching grant initiative through which she will donate $1 each time an individual “shares” a post she originates and sends about the PBCFB and specifically its Lois’ Food 4Kids program. Moreover, interested individuals will also have the opportunity to make their own donation to the program through this new campaign. The campaign will run through the end of August and the donation page URL is pbcfoodbank.org/loisfood4kids.
In April, Mrs. Pope made a $1 million donation to the PBCFB to support and expand its Food4OurKids initiative for children, which was renamed in recognition of her generosity. Lois’ Food4Kids is a year-round weekend and summer feeding program designed to help fill nutritional gaps that children face during those times. While in school, these children receive free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch, but with schools closed – first because of the COVID-19 pandemic and now because the school term has ended – those meals are now less available. As a result, there is an enormous need to fill their food gap. Even before COVID-19, one in five children in the county was going to bed hungry on a nightly basis.
“No child should ever go hungry, here in Palm Beach County or anywhere else in this country,” said Mrs. Pope. “Those of us who are more fortunate should want to help ensure that these children have access to nutritional meals on a daily basis, especially since schools are now closed. So I invite others – in fact, I urge others – to join me in this vitally important effort. And it’s easy to do so with this new social media campaign.”
“Once again, Lois Pope is demonstrating what a true champion she is when it comes to the welfare and well-being of our most vulnerable residents – our children,” said Marti LaTour, the chair of the board of the Palm Beach County Food Bank. “She is putting a huge smile on the faces of thousands of children while helping fill their nutritional needs.”
Palm Beach County represents the 10th largest school district in the U.S. More than 60% of school-age children are already eligible for free or reduced-price meals, “and the need is increasing very quickly and greatly,” said Ms. LaTour, noting that the Food Bank provides meals to more than 3,000 kids at 45 sites during the summer and on weekends.
About Lois Pope
For more than a quarter-century, Lois Pope has been one of America’s leading philanthropists and humanitarians. She is founder of three foundations, the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation, Inc., LIFE (Leaders in Furthering Education), and the Disabled Veterans LIFE Memorial Foundation. She has championed the passage of three pieces of federal legislation to benefit disabled veterans. First, she created and spearheaded the building of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, the nation’s only permanent public tribute to the 4.2 million living disabled veterans and those who died. Second, she advocated for October 5 being declared as an annual National Day of Honor for Disabled Veterans. Third, through her partnership with American Humane, home to the Lois Pope LIFE Center for Military Affairs, she backed the nation’s first bill enabling military dogs who served in war to be brought home and, in many cases, reunited with their human soldiers as therapy dogs.
Mrs. Pope and her foundations have supported medical research, scholarships, summer camp experiences for disadvantaged children, humanitarian aid, the performing arts, and animal welfare. She recently gave $12 million to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, its largest gift, to create the Lois Pope Center for Retinal & Macular Degeneration Research. Earlier, her gift established the Lois Pope LIFE Center at the University of Miami, home to the Miami Project/Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, the world’s leading paralysis research center. A Manalapan, FL resident, she is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, who has completed five marathons, and adopted several dogs and cats. For more information, visit www.life@life-edu.org
About the Palm Beach County Food Bank
The Palm Beach County Food Bank provides access to nutritious food for more than 100,000 hungry Palm Beach County residents every month and says demand is significantly increasing as more and more people are left without jobs and income. Typically, the Food Bank procures more than 5 million pounds of food annually from grocery stores, restaurants, food distributors, wholesalers and other sources and provides it to almost 200 local community partners and programs, including food pantries, soup kitchens and residential housing programs. However, in the wake of COVID-19, food donations have become scarce and many partner agencies have had to close their doors. For more information, visit pbcfoodbank.org.