January 2021 Newsletter

January 2021 Community Foundation Newsletter

Your Community. Your Philanthropy. Your Foundation.

We wish our Coral Gables Community Foundation friends a healthy and peaceful start to 2021.

As demonstrated by our activities last year, your Community Foundation continues to shine as the philanthropic conduit connecting beneficiaries and benefactors to fund programs with the greatest impact and benefit to the City Beautiful. This new year not only marks a time to reevaluate and renew after the challenges of last year, but we are also delighted to celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of the Community Foundation in 2021. We are so proud of our accomplishments over the past thirty years serving those who live, work, learn and play in our community by investing more than $9 million back into our community.

As we begin 2021, I would like to extend my heartfelt best wishes and many thanks to our Fund Holders, Merrick Society Members and our Board of Directors and hope we can gather again soon and safely. Thank you for being part of our success over the past 30 years and for your continued support and commitment as we journey into 2021.

Sincerely,

Mary Snow

Executive Director

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Holiday Cheer

On December 18^th, the Foundation continued its beloved tradition of distributing holiday hams and other goodies to our MacFarlane Homestead and Golden Gate neighbors at the Lola Walker Community Center complete with Christmas carols by students from the Frost School of Music. Thank you to Coral Gables Police Department and Chief Ed Hudak for giving Secret Santa gifts to our neighbors.

The Mitchell Zuniga Scholarship Fund Established

The Mitchell Zuniga Memorial Scholarship was established to provide college scholarships to a Coral Gables Senior High School football player with an overall GPA of 2.8 or higher.

Football was Mitchell's great passion during his years at Gables High. He played football on the offensive line for four years and went on to attend Santa Fe College in Gainesville where he graduated with an Associate’s Degree. He then transferred to the University of Central Florida and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality Management. Mitchell was tragically killed in a car accident in November of 2019. His mother, Martha C. Mendez Mishael, founded this memorial scholarship to keep her son’s memory, and love of football, alive.

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Focus on Funds

Coral Gables Fire Cadets

receive funding from the Foundation

The Foundation is proud to support the Coral Gables Fire Department's CADET program with funding from our Fall 2020 grants cycle. The Community Foundation and the Fire Department participate in various projects throughout the year such as our Christmas Tree giveaway each December. We applaud the efforts and dedications of these aspiring young fire fighters.

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305 Feeds & Branches

305 Feeds continues their amazing work supporting local restaurants impacted by the pandemic while also feeding folks served by local nonprofit organizations. This past month, 305 Feeds partnered with Tu Paella Catering to not only deliver food, but owner and chef Beda Molina cooked two beautiful paellas for over 50 children and & families at Branches’ Florida City campus. Founded in 1973, Branches provides life—changing opportunities to help working families and their children break the cycle of generational poverty. The Foundation proudly supports both organizations through our grants program, and is the fiscal sponsor of 305 Feeds.

SUPPORT

Board Member News

As of January 1^st, long-standing Foundation Board Member and Chair of the recent L' Art de Recevoir, Sissy DeMaria-Koehne, leads Cultivate PR, a fully-integrated public relations and digital marketing collaborative with offices in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. The firm has opened a new office in Coral Gables at 300 Sevilla Avenue.

Cultivate PR is a public relations agency with a strong focus on experiential events, social media, digital marketing and traditional publicity, specializing in lifestyle brands in the real estate, automotive, luxury retail, wealth management and hospitality industries. In addition to Sissy's professional successes, she has chaired the Foundation's largest annual fundraiser for the past six years. Congratulations Sissy!

We are excited to announce that Foundation Board Treasurer, Michael Walsh, CFP®, has been named Partner at Evensky & Katz/Foldes Financial Wealth Management, celebrating over 35 years in Coral Gables. Michael has been with the firm since 2014 and delivers strategic personal investment services to his private wealth clients. A New Jersey native, Michael is a graduate of the prestigious Personal Financial Planning Master’s Degree program from Texas Tech University.

Michael has served as the Foundation’s Treasurer for two years as well as in leadership roles on both the Scholarship and Community Giving Committees and chaired the 2018 and 2019 Wine Auctions to benefit the Coral Gables Community Foundation. We congratulate our Treasurer on this momentous professional achievement!

Join the Merrick Society

T 305.446.9670

F 305.446.3773

220 Alhambra Circle, Suite 320

Coral Gables, FL 33134

The Coral Gables Community Foundation is a nonprofit §501(c)(3) organization, the mission of the Coral Gables Community Foundation is to foster programs and initiatives that enhance the quality of life for people living and working in “The City Beautiful” Coral Gables.