DeVos family gives $700K to Magic Youth Foundation
The Orlando Magic Youth Foundation reached its $1 million fundraising goal after a $700,000 contribution from Magic ownership — the DeVos family — and began its first wave of grants for 2021 on Wednesday, with three local groups each receiving $100,000 during a virtual ceremony.
The AdventHealth Foundation/Hebni Nutrition Consultant, Orlando Science Center/Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida/Grace Medical Home each was set to receive a $100,000 grant.
Each group received the same financial award the past two years. This year’s funding closes a threeyear commitment developed to support long-term and lasting solutions to complex issues.
Magic CEO Alex Martins praised the grant recipients for their work over the past two years, congratulated them on their selections and offered words of encouragement moving forward.
“We know you will all continue to make significant impacts on the at-risk youth in our community,” he said during an interview with reporters.
AdventHealth for Children’s “Healthy Weight and Wellness” program is designed to help overweight and obese children and their parents.
The grant program will serve 110 new low-income children and families this year.
The funding for the “Ignite Discovery” program through the Orlando Science Center and Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County will provide professional development training for 150 early childhood educators throughout 50 classrooms.
The “Food is Medicine for Healthier Kids” program through Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and Grace Medical Home provides access to healthy food, nutrition education and counseling for nearly 100 low-income, uninsured children in Orange County.
More OMYF grants will be announced in the coming months. The grant application process for the remaining $700,000 opened Wednesday and will continue through May 7.
Only past grant recipients and groups the foundation has created relationships with over the past year will receive an invitation to apply, said Magic vice president of community relations and government affairs and OMYF president Linda Landman-Gonzalez. She said email invitations were set to go out Wednesday.
The recipients will be announced in June.
“We are eager to see the remaining funds issued to the non-profit partners so they can continue to do the great work in our community, and we’ll be cheering each and every one of them on as they continue their great work,” Magic chairman Dan DeVos said.
In a normal year, the OMYF raises money through donations, auctions and events such as its Open Golf Tournament and the Orlando Wine Festival and Auction, but the coronavirus pandemic wiped out those events and other fundraising activities as gatherings were either limited or restricted.
“We’ve been in the area for a very long time and are very aware of what needs are there, and when the opportunity presented itself to step in in a different way, we jumped at the opportunity,” DeVos said.
As Landman-Gonzalez pointed out, the work of the foundation’s nonprofit partners has provided help — such as food, rent and utilities assistance — to many Central Florida families during the pandemic. She said the DeVos’ contribution will help those agencies meet the tremendous need that still exists.
“This has been an extraordinarily difficult year all around. This is huge for us and our community and we’re very, very excited about what we can helpfully support,” Landman-Gonzalez said.
The outlook was grim for a time. Without the typical fundraising elements and $300,000 available to give, it looked like all of that money would go toward fulfilling the foundation’s previous threeyear grant commitments.
“We weren’t going to be able to distribute the million dollars that we have distributed for many, many years now in succession to help our at-risk youth,” Martins said. “We’re incredibly appreciative to Dan and his family for making this very significant contribution so that we can make sure that the great work that all of our organizations are doing with our youth in Central Florida can continue.”
The foundation has donated nearly $26 million to more than 500 Central Florida nonprofit community organizations since it was started in 1990, with an impact on more than two million area youth, according to the Magic.
In April 2020, the DeVos family gave $50,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to help support a rise in food distribution because of the pandemic.
A month earlier, the family funded a $2 million compensation package to pay 1,800 hourly employees for games lost due to the suspension of the NBA season and cancellation of the ECHL hockey season. Those included employees of the city-owned Amway Center, along with those who worked for the Magic, Orlando Solar Bears and Lakeland Magic.