A Movement that Keeps Giving to Palm Beach County Non-Profits

Wellington, FL – September 25, 2019 – With a strong belief that change happens through the power of united communities, the Great Charity Challenge presented by Fidelity Investments® (GCC) has distributed over $13.5 million to 240 local organizations in 10 years.  The event has become a movement, inspiring the community to generously contribute over $1 million per year, supported by local equestrians who donate their time, skills and horses to compete on behalf of Palm Beach County-based non-profits. The exciting show jumping competition that blends equestrian sports and philanthropy, has become a highlight of the 12-week Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), held at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

With the 2020 GCC application fast approaching, the second fund use report from the 2019 event offers the opportunity to reflect on the milestones achieved by the benefiting 65 non-profits.  Collectively, these local organizations put $1.3 million in donations to use following their participation in the event held on February 2, 2019.

With grants ranging from $1,000 to $150,000, over 47,415 lives were impacted in this reporting quarter.

“Sharing what these non-profits are accomplishing is important on many levels,” commented Anne Caroline Valtin, Executive Director of the GCC. “It inspires our generous donors to keep giving to this movement; it empowers individuals to see that true change is possible and it validates the amazing work these organizations are accomplishing in our community.”

What exactly can you accomplish with $1.3 million?

We invite you to hear directly from the benefiting organizations of this year’s event.

Boca West Children’s Foundation, who received $50,000 in funding from the GCC, directly assisted 1,200 kids through tennis and golf camp opportunities for underserved children.
The opportunity enabled the organization to create a portal for camp counselors to teach them how to keep kids safe from and recognize sexual abuse, as well as providing a backpack with school supplies to all students of Pine Grove Elementary School (who has over 95% of students on free and reduced lunch).

The Community Caring Center of Palm Beach County assisted 300 Palm Beach County seniors in low-income households by providing home-based services and critical food deliveries. Additionally, the $42,000 received through this year’s event enabled them to expand their services by bringing fresh produce to seniors that are categorized as requiring “chronic condition care meals.”

Receiving $29,000 meant that the Christopher Aguirre Memorial Foundation could address new challenges. By partnering with the Palm Beach School District, Food Service, the Foundation paid off all of Wellington’s food debt for the 2018-2019 school year, directly assisting an estimated 1,338 families according to the School District’s manager. The organization has further committed to renewing this initiative this year.

Back to Basics, Inc.’s Uniform and Angel Programs benefited from $27,000 in funding. Approximately 1,250 uniforms were purchased for the price of $10,000 and were distributed to schools in the Glades area. The remaining $17,000 will be allocated towards the organization’s Angel Programs, which will provide new sneakers, socks, underwear and a toy for over 7,500 children in need during the holidays.

Inspired? So are we!!

These are just a few examples of the 65 benefiting organizations. We invite you to access the full second fund use report by visiting: https://bit.ly/2kGgH8d

The first fund use report from this year’s event is also available via: https://bit.ly/2XapIIC

Organizations benefiting from the GCC continue to serve and support the local community’s growth and well-being. Their outreach and dedicated work spans many different sectors within the Palm Beach County region, including veteran aid, animal advocacy and rescue, foster care, senior citizen care, and family support, to name just a few.

The application process for the 2020 GCC will run from October 15 through November 15, 2019. To stay up to date, we invite you to follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/greatcharitychallenge and Instagram: @greatcharitychallenge

For additional information about the event, including about the application process, donation and sponsorship information, please visit www.greatcharitychallenge.com

About Fidelity Investments®

Fidelity’s mission is to inspire better futures and deliver better outcomes for the customers and businesses we serve. With assets under administration of $7.7 trillion, including managed assets of $2.8 trillion as of August 31, 2019, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 30 million people invest their own life savings, 22,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing more than 13,500 financial advisory firms with investment and technology solutions to invest their own clients’ money. Privately held for more than 70 years, Fidelity employs more than 40,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about.

About the Winter Equestrian Festival

The Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), known as the “Winter Equestrian Capital of the World,” is the world’s largest and longest running equestrian festival in the world, located in Wellington, Florida. The equestrian industry adds more than $100 million to Palm Beach County’s economy each year and provides more 900 jobs for the area. WEF is the proving ground for the Olympic Equestrian sports of show jumping and dressage. WEF is run by Equestrian Sport Productions, that also operates the International Polo Club. For more information on WEF, please visit https://pbiec.coth.com.

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