2025 Winter Park Community Grants Announced
Great communities are shaped by people who invest in them, individuals who give charitably to nonprofits doing important work and helping to create the kind of place we all want to live in. Truly exceptional communities have a legacy of people who not only gave during their lifetime but also left behind permanent endowments to support the community in perpetuity.
At Central Florida Foundation, we are honored to steward dozens of such endowments. One of our most prestigious is the Winter Park Community Foundation, where more than 68 endowments are held. Many of the donors behind these funds are no longer with us, but their impact continues, supporting Winter Park year after year, exactly as they intended.
In the 1990s, the Winter Park Community Foundation consisted of 68 individual trusts managed by a local bank on Park Avenue. When the bank was no longer able to administer these trusts, a judge transferred them to Central Florida Foundation. We transformed each trust into a formal endowment, preserving the original donor intent and ensuring that grants would continue to support the causes those donors cared about—not necessarily the same organizations, but always the same spirit and purpose. That is the hallmark of strong community philanthropy.
The Worthy Persons Fund
One of the most enduring legacies among these funds is the Worthy Persons Fund, which dates back to the 1940s. Originally established at a bank located where Bank of America now stands, this fund began in the simplest of ways. As the story goes, a receptionist sat at a wooden desk near the bank’s entrance. In her bottom drawer was a small metal box labeled “Worthy Persons Fund” with masking tape. Community members would contribute cash to the box, and if someone needed help—making a house payment, buying shoes for a child—the receptionist could quietly offer a loan. The only expectation was that the recipient would return the money when they could and contribute more if they were able.
Today, that same fund is permanently endowed at the Central Florida Foundation and supports organizations that serve the entire community. Past grantees include Foundation for Foster Children, Welbourne Avenue Nursery and Preschool, The Mustard Seed, and Winter Park Library.
Since the transition to Central Florida Foundation, over 150 grants totaling more than $1.4 million have been granted back into Winter Park from these funds. Each year, Winter Park Community Grants are awarded from these endowments. Community members serve on a volunteer grants committee to help identify where the funds can have the greatest impact, while our Foundation staff conducts thorough due diligence to ensure the funds are distributed responsibly and effectively.
2025 Winter Park Community Grants Announcement
We are proud to announce the 2025 Winter Park Community Grant recipients. These grants support impactful work across Winter Park, strengthening education, health, livability, economic stability, and community connection. Below, see each grantee, the project, and the Thrive area* supported.
Grantee: REED Charitable Foundation
Project: Providing free, personalized reading intervention for 1st–3rd graders at the Winter Park Library using the Orton-Gillingham approach. The program strengthens foundational literacy skills, supports families, and improves long-term academic outcomes for local children.
Funding: $25,000
Thrive areas supported: Education, Community & Social Connection
Grantee: Hebni Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Project: Expanding the Fresh Stop Mobile Market to double the number of Winter Park seniors receiving fresh produce and culturally relevant nutrition education. Includes monthly cooking demonstrations, affordable recipe cards, and increased fresh food access to support healthier lifestyles.
Funding: $25,000
Thrive areas supported: Health & Well-being
Grantee: Hope and Help Center of Central Florida, Inc.
Project: Bringing free HIV/STI testing, prevention, and health education directly into Winter Park neighborhoods through a bi-weekly mobile clinic and community workshops. This work reduces stigma, removes barriers to care, and increases access to confidential, compassionate support.
Funding: $25,000
Thrive areas supported: Health & Well-being, Livability, Community & Social Connection
Grantee: Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
Project: Delivering free live orchestral performances to preschool-aged children at Winter Park Day Nursery and other early learning centers. The interactive Symphony Storytime program supports language development, motor skills, memory, and school readiness during critical early childhood years.
Funding: $5,000
Thrive areas supported: Education, Livability, Community & Social Connection
Grantee: Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Project: Providing 18 fully furnished beds—including frames, mattresses, and bedding—to Winter Park children who currently do not have a safe place to sleep. This restores dignity for families and ensures children have a healthy environment for rest, growth, and learning.
Funding: $5,000
Thrive areas supported: Livability, Health & Well-being
Stewarding Legacies for a Better Tomorrow
These grants represent more than annual investments—they reflect our responsibility to steward philanthropic dollars entrusted to us by people who are no longer here but who cared deeply about strengthening the community. Through their generosity, we are able to support organizations creating opportunity, connection, and well-being across Central Florida. We are honored to carry their legacy forward and to partner with today’s changemakers as we work together to ensure every resident has the chance to thrive.
Why do we identify Thrive areas when making grants? Each grant is aligned with one or more of the region’s Thrive areas—economic stability, livability, education, community & social connection, and health & well-being. These categories help us understand not only what a project does, but how it contributes to the long-term strength and resilience of communities across Central Florida. By mapping each grant to its Thrive areas, we can clearly see how investments reinforce one another, fill gaps, and collectively move residents toward greater opportunity, safety, belonging, and well-being.
Tags: community grants, grantees, winter park