{"id":24,"date":"2018-06-01T11:46:58","date_gmt":"2018-06-01T15:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/?post_type=fdoc-news-item&p=24"},"modified":"2024-06-11T07:10:02","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T11:10:02","slug":"floridas-natural-growers-foundation-gives-200000-to-central-florida-charities","status":"publish","type":"fdoc-news-item","link":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/news\/floridas-natural-growers-foundation-gives-200000-to-central-florida-charities\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s Natural Growers Foundation gives $200,000 to Central Florida charities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Florida\u2019s Natural Growers Foundation<\/a>\u00a0handed out more than $200,000 Monday night to 68 organizations\u00a0focused on youth, education and health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funds support everything from summer swim programs\u00a0to art classes, said Foundation President Walt Lincer, with every dollar remaining in Central Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to impact as many organizations as we can,\u201d Lincer said. \u201cThe smaller grants, that to some are pretty meaningful, make that possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2008, the foundation has given out\u00a0more than $800,000.\u00a0Among this year\u2019s recipients were the Red Cross of\u00a0Mid Florida, Lake Wales Charter Schools, Frostproof Art League and\u00a0Explorations V Children\u2019s Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citrus World<\/a>, a grower co-operative based in Lake Wales\u00a0with about 1,000 members, founded the Florida\u2019s Natural Growers Foundation as a way to give back to the community where growers live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every organization receiving a grant is located in an area where Florida\u2019s Natural growers live and work, an area stretching from Lake County south to Clewiston that includes at least five of the top 10 citrus producing counties in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t fund anything outside of the growing area where our members are located,\u201d Lincer said. \u201cAll the money is awarded to\u00a0organizations in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foundation raises much of its funds\u00a0through an\u00a0annual golf tournament in March, the\u00a0Florida\u2019s Natural Charity Classic<\/a>, which is part of the LPGA\u2019s Symetra Developmental Tour,\u00a0a 5K race and silent auction. Florida\u2019s Natural\u00a0growers and employees can also participate in a corporate matching program, in which Citrus World approved a match up to $50,000 for 2013-14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida\u2019s Natural growers pay all administrative costs, Lincer said, which means\u00a0100 percent of the money\u00a0collected by the foundation goes back to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor every dollar we take in, we give out a dollar,\u201d Lincer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are the organizations that received\u00a0grants for 2014 from the Florida\u2019s Natural Growers Foundation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Against All Odds
Anchor House
Best Buddies Chapter @ Lake Wales High School
Bok Tower Gardens
Boys & Girls Clubs of Haines, Lake Wales, and Winter Haven
Circle of Friends Ministry and Camp Joy
City of Lake Wales
Explorations V Children\u2019s Museum
Family Literacy Academy at Lake Wales
Florida Engineering Society Ridge Chapter \u2013 MATH COUNTS
Florida Specialty Crop Foundation
Friends of FL State Forests\/Operation Outdoor Freedom
Friends of the Parks
Frostproof Art League
Frostproof Care Center
Ft. Meade Middle\/High School
Good Shepherd Hospice \u2013 Camp Braveheart
Green and Gold Foundation of Lake Wales \u2013 B Street Community
Habitat for Humanity\/East Polk County and Highlands County
Healthy Start Coalition
Heartland Food Reservoir, Inc.
Heartland for Children
Help of Ft. Meade, Inc.
InnerAct Alliance
Jaylen\u2019s Challenge Foundation
Junior League of Greater Lakeland
Junior League of Greater Winter Haven
Keep Polk County Beautiful
Kidspack
Lake Wales Area Foundation Inc.
Lake Wales Arts Council
Lake Wales Breakfast Rotary
Lake Wales Care Center
Lake Wales Charter Schools
Lake Wales Kiwanis Foundation
Lake Wales Literacy Council
Lake Wales Ministerial Alliance Inc.
Lake Wales Public Library
Lake Wales YMCA
Lake Wales Youth Soccer Club
Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine
Leadership Hendry and Glades Counties Inc.
Mason G. Smoak Foundation
Our Children\u2019s Academy
Peace River Center
Polk County Agri-fest\/Polk County Farm Bureau
Polk State College Foundation
Polk Training for Handicapped Citizens, Inc.
Professional Opportunities Program for Students, Inc.
Randy Roberts Foundation
Raymon Theater
READ Polk, Inc. of Lakeland
Red Cross of Mid Florida
Redlands Christian Migrant Association
Roberts Academy \u2013 Florida Southern College
Roosevelt Academy \u2013 Roosevelt Farms
Samaritan\u2019s Touch
Scholarship Recognition, Inc.
Sertoma Camp Endeavor
Southeastern University
The WAY Center Inc.
Umatilla Kiwanis Club
United Way of Central Florida
Valleyview Elementary
Vanguard School
Warner University
Webber International University
Women\u2019s Care Center of Bartow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida\u2019s Natural Growers Foundation\u00a0handed out more than $200,000 Monday night to 68 organizations\u00a0focused on youth, education and health. The funds support everything from summer swim programs\u00a0to art classes, said Foundation President Walt Lincer, with every dollar remaining in Central Florida. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to impact as many organizations as we can,\u201d Lincer said. \u201cThe smaller grants,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"fdoc-citrus-type":[18,19,34,35],"fdoc-health-category":[38],"fdoc-news-item-category":[55,57,14,25],"class_list":["post-24","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","fdoc-citrus-type-grapefruit","fdoc-citrus-type-grapefruit-juice","fdoc-citrus-type-orange","fdoc-citrus-type-orange-juice","fdoc-health-category-potassium-rich","fdoc-news-item-category-budget","fdoc-news-item-category-commissioner-notes","fdoc-news-item-category-fdoc","fdoc-news-item-category-industry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-news-item\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fdoc-news-item"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-news-item\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9306,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-news-item\/24\/revisions\/9306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"fdoc-citrus-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-citrus-type?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"fdoc-health-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-health-category?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"fdoc-news-item-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.floridacitrus.ca\/oj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fdoc-news-item-category?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}