Magic hand out $1M to charities

To sports fans, Thursday’s topic du jour may have been the firing of Orlando Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn, but to Central Florida’s nonprofit organizations, the buzz was all about which of them was getting the big bucks from the Magic’s charitable foundation.

The Orlando Magic Youth Fund handed out $1 million in checks to 21 organizations in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties Thursday in what is annually billed as an “All Stars” celebration of charities that help kids.

Among other things, the grants — from $25,000 to $100,000 each — help promote literacy; mentor students; fight childhood obesity; and help children deal with bullying, homelessness and obesity.

For the organizations invited to the ceremony, it’s akin to winning an Oscar — and the Publisher’s Clearinghouse giveaway.

“My heart started thumping and I teared up a little,” said Beverly Hougland, CEO of the Osceola Council on Aging, which — despite its name — serves all generations.

With one of two $100,000 grants awarded, Hougland said, this year the agency will be able to help 120 families in Osceola at risk for becoming homeless. That program offers rent and utility assistance, food, childcare referrals, employment training, education and health benefits.

“We are bombarded by need,” Hougland said. “We served 169,000 people last year through all our programs, and there are more that need help. But we’re pretty much the safety net in Osceola.”

Harbor House of Central Florida, Orange County’s domestic-violence prevention and shelter agency, was the other $100,000 winner — money it will use to launch a rapid re-housing program for victims and their children who seek safety.

“Since March of 2014, we have not had an empty bed at our shelter,” said Harbor House CEO Carol Wick. “And we know that having money like this to move survivors out of the shelter and into an apartment of their own will encourage more women to leave their batterers — because they’ll know that the shelter is not going to be a dead-end, that we have a way to help them get on with their lives.”

For Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando, the Magic fund’s $30,000 grant will aid families on the brink of homelessness.

“It costs so much less to do prevention than it does to bring someone back once they’re homeless,” said Executive Director Eric Geboff. “And it’s not just about helping them with a rent payment. If they need counseling or their kids need counseling, we help with counseling. If they need food, we give food.”

Meanwhile Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins called the grant ceremony his “favorite day of the year” — although this year it was a short-lived respite away from the hot seat. A news conference on Vaughn’s firing would come later the same afternoon.

“This is the fun part,” he said after handing out the checks. “We’re getting to help these organizations do their work.”