Donate Now!
Grant Recipients
In 2013, the Naples Children & Education Foundation awarded $13.4 million to improve the lives of underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County. Annual grants totaling $6.4 million were given to twenty-four non-profit agencies and an additional $7 million was granted to support four multi-year, multi-faceted strategic initiatives aimed at continuing to fight against children's oral health diseases, providing out-of-school programs in Immokalee, improving children’s vision through screenings and providing prescription eyeglasses; and the continuation of Lunch Boxes of Love, an initiative that takes a bite out of children's hunger - the 2013 festival’s Fund-A-Need cause. The grant selection process is lead by a committee of nine trustees who work year round to determine how the funds raised at the Naples Winter Wine Festival can be used to make the greatest impact on the neediest children in our community.Grant Committee 2013-2014
- Jim Dixon
Chair - Susie McCurry
Vice Chair - Jeannelle Brady
Committee Member - Terry Edwards
Committee Member - Valerie Gargiulo
Committee Member - Pat Gibbons
Committee Member - Sharon Hallberg
Committee Member - Linda Koehn
Committee Member - Tom Moran
Committee Member
Grant Information & Application
The 2014 Grant Application
All grant applications must be completed and received by the NCEF offices no later than 12:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time), Friday, the thirteenth of September, 2013 (Friday, September 13, 2013), for funding consideration.2013 Grant Recipients
ABLE Academy
$250,000ABLE Academy provides intensive applied behavior analysis for children with autism and related disorders. The 2013 grant will provide an additional 780 at-risk children with learning delays, therapy and support services in their child development centers. This program will simultaneously serve the children and allow child care center staff to develop the skills needed to meet the needs of their special needs students.
Boys & Girls Club of Collier County
$1,000,000Boys & Girls Club of Collier County provides daily after school and summer enrichment programs to inspire and enable children, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to reach their full potential. Funding will provide academic and youth development programs for 1,100 at-risk children in Golden Gate and Immokalee.
Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation
$100,000Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation will expand the Badges for Baseball program. More than 225 at-risk youth will be mentored by a police officer, firefighter and other civil servants. A portion of the funds will allow 35 children to attend an overnight summer baseball camp in Baltimore, Maryland with other children from across the nation.
Catholic Charities
$136,000Catholic Charities provides sexual abuse treatment services to children, three to eight years old. Recently, the demand for services has grown and this project will add more resources to meet the need. This program works in collaboration with the Children's Advocacy Center and other referring agencies by way of an NCEF grant.
Collier County Children's Advocacy Center, Inc./CPT
$484,000Children’s Advocacy Center services the most severely abused and traumatized children in the community. Funds will help pay for medical and social evaluations, case management, supervised visitation and monitor exchanges, trauma focused therapy and counseling.
ELLM Program
$350,000ELLM (Early Learning and Literacy Model) Program closes the school readiness gap for Pre-kindergarten children living in poverty in Collier County. This year’s grant will assist in the continuation of equipping classrooms with literacy materials and will provide a research based coaching model for teachers in Pre-K classrooms reaching 1,200 children in Collier County.
Friends of Foster Children of Southwest Florida
$360,000Friends of Foster Children of SW Florida provides educational and after school opportunities and experiences that are not afforded by the State to children in foster care. Funds will provide 5,000 hours of tutoring, summer camp for 90 children and emergency support where appropriate and necessary
Fun Time Early Childhood Academy
$135,000Fun Time Early Childhood Academy is an educational child care facility for low-income and working class families in the River Park area of Naples. Funds will help 84 toddlers and preschoolers receive quality child development services year round.
Golisano Children's Museum of Naples
$200,000Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples will continue after school programming for 5th grade students from Golden Gate schools. NCEF’s support will help ensure the most vulnerable children of Collier County seamless access the museum.
Guadalupe Center of Immokalee
$725,000Guadalupe Center provides educational, social and other support programs and resources to help break the cycle of poverty for disadvantaged children and families of Immokalee. The 2013 grant will assist in serving 225, six week to four year old, children and allow hundreds of school age children the opportunity to attend after school, summer programming and out of school holiday academic camps.
Immokalee Child Care Center
$215,000Immokalee Child Care Center provides subsidized child care for children of migrant and working parents in Immokalee. The 2013 grant will underwrite year round infant, toddler and Voluntary Pre-K scholarships. A total of 105 children will benefit daily from this grant.
Immokalee Housing & Family Services
$85,000Immokalee Housing & Family Services provides year round out of school educational programs for the working class poor in the low-income Eden Park neighborhood of Immokalee. The 2013 grant will subsidize preschool services to 3 year old children.
Legal Aid for Collier Kids
$115,000Legal Aid for Collier Kids funds will continue Children's Legal Services Project Program to promote stability and well being in the lives of children victimized from exposure to domestic violence, trauma and abuse. Free legal services will be provided to up to 200 clients at the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, Youth Haven, Catholic Charities and Children's Advocacy Center.
Marco Island YMCA
$265,000Marco Island YMCA has established out of school programs that build strong minds, bodies and spirits for the children of their community. The 2013 grant will serve over 200 children in the Manatee district of East Naples; providing them with after school and summer programs
Naples Botanical Garden
$61,000Naples Botanical Garden will provide 300 students from Avalon and Shadowlawn Elementary schools, a seven week, standards based, science summer program. This program is designed to reduce summer learning loss, as evidenced by extremely positive results from the first year. Avalon and Shadowlawn Elementary schools are considered high need and in a particularly impoverished area of East Naples.
Naples Equestrian Challenge
$100,000Naples Equestrian Challenge offers therapeutic riding for disabled children in Collier County. This year’s grant will help to expand therapeutic riding sessions to a wider group of at-risk children in Collier County, particularly to non verbal children and others with communication disorders. Special assistive technological electronic equipment will be purchased to implement this new modality of therapy.
Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA)
$350,000Redlands Christian Migrant Association provides quality child care and early education for children of migrant farm workers and rural, low-income families throughout Collier County. A 2013 grant will expand services, allowing 320, preschool and school age, children to access quality child development services and after school programming year round.
Safe & Healthy Children's Coalition
$50,000Safe & Healthy Children’s Coalition focuses on saving children’s lives through injury prevention and health promotion. 2013 funds will help to continue offering drowning prevention/water safety programming. The program will provide layers of protection through water safety education for at-risk and underserved families and provide water safety lessons for 1,000 children.
Shelter for Abused Women & Children
$323, 000Shelter for Abused Women & Children provides safety, intervention, education and support to victims and survivors of domestic violence. The 2013 grant will fund therapeutic counselors and outreach services for child victims of domestic violence in Immokalee and Naples
Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board
$340,000Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board a partnership of business, labor, education, community and government services which oversee educational initiatives through the region. The 2013 grant is an investment in the out of school Miracle II programs in Immokalee which will serve over 1,000 children daily in Immokalee schools.
St. Matthew's House/St. Matt's Kids Camps
$31,000St. Matt’s Kids Camps is a division of St. Matthews House Homeless Shelter. The 2013 grant will provide scholarships for local homeless children to attend summer programs, receive supplementary one-on- one tutoring for needy children. Funding will also insure children in the shelter have access to child care.
Tutor Corps
$60,000Tutor Corps a program of the Guadalupe Center that provides comprehensive college preparedness for students at Immokalee High School. Tutor Corps helps students achieve their goals of post-secondary education while assisting younger students, contributing to their family’s income, earning scholarships for college and having access to services from a professional academic counselor.
YMCA of the Palms
$395,000YMCA of the Palms operates the largest nonprofit early childhood center in Naples with over 260, birth to five year old, children enrolled in year round academically based programs. This year’s grant will subsidize over 200 pre-school children from low-income families.
Youth Haven
$300,000Youth Haven has provided shelter and counseling services for abused and neglected children for more than 40 years. Funding will help fill the unmet need for an emergency shelter for homeless and runaway youth.
* indicates Challenge grant