Volunteer Florida Awards Half a Million Dollars in Funding to 24 Florida Nonprofits

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Volunteer Florida announced that $508,000 in Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) grant funding has been awarded to 24 nonprofit and service organizations throughout the State of Florida. In total, this VGF funding will enable 9,600 skills-based volunteers to serve 72,000 hours, generating a value of $1,895,040 to Florida’s communities.

Volunteer Florida’s VGF program, which is funded by AmeriCorps, helps organizations recruit skills-based volunteers to serve Florida students, families and communities in need. Skills-based volunteerism expands the impact of nonprofit organizations by leveraging the experience and skillsets of professionals such as teachers, IT consultants, accountants and attorneys.

“Volunteer organizations are vital to our communities – whether they are distributing supplies after a hurricane, supporting our award-winning state parks, mentoring students or providing services to seniors,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “I’m proud to announce another $500,000 today to support nonprofits that are focused on elevating their communities and delivering a tremendous return on investment for the people of Florida.”

“Since 2014, Volunteer Florida’s VGF program has been able to empower 113,037 skills-based volunteers to contribute more than 1,636,226 hours of service, generating a remarkable $43,065,468 in value to the State of Florida,” said Volunteer Florida CEO Corey Simon. “We are grateful to support these Florida organizations that are working to expand their impact and reach to those families in need of a helping hand.”

The following are new organizations that received VGF funding for the 2021-2022 program year:

Arcadia-DeSoto County Habitat for Humanity, Inc. ($20,000) – DeSoto County
Arcadia-DeSoto County Habitat for Humanity, Inc., will recruit 400 volunteers who will help build homes for qualifying families in DeSoto County.

Boys & Girls Club of Polk County ($20,000) – Polk County
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Polk County will recruit 400 volunteers who will mentor youth, help with homework, facilitate project-based learning and serve as career exploration speakers.

Children First, Inc. ($20,000) – Sarasota County
Children First proposes to have 400 volunteers, contributing 3,000 hours who will mentor parents as part of the Families First Institute and Parent Training Program.

RCMA ($20,000) – Collier County
RCMA proposes to have 400 skills-based volunteers, contributing over 3,000 hours who will serve as Volunteer Bus Aides, Clerical Volunteers, Infant and Non-Mobile Children Volunteers in Immokalee Florida.

The Literacy Council of Sarasota, Inc. ($20,000) – Sarasota County
The Literacy Council of Sarasota, Inc. (LCS) proposes to have 400 volunteers, contributing 3,000 hours who will be trained as tutors for adults in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto Counties, Florida.

For the full list of Volunteer Florida’s VGF grantees, please click here.

Funding for the VGF program is awarded through a competitive application process. To learn more about this funding opportunity and others, please sign-up for Volunteer Florida’s newsletters here.