Funded by members of the Boca West Country Club, other corporate institutions, and individuals, the Boca West Children’s Foundation has been one of Boca Helping Hands’ strongest partners since the early days of the Foundation’s 13-year existence.
In March 2011, Arthur Adler, Executive Director of what was then called the Boca West Foundation, toured the newly opened Remillard Family Resource Center to learn more about BHH, get a sense of where the Foundation aligned, and identify ways they could assist.
“During that initial meeting, we shared our desire to add Friday service to our lunch program, which already operated on Monday through Thursday and on Saturdays,” said Karen Swedenborg, BHH’s Associate Director of Development. What BHH didn’t have at the time was enough volunteers committed to working each Friday.
Thanks to Boca West members establishing a brand-new “Friday crew” to prepare and serve food, BHH was able to expand its lunch program to Fridays on April 1, 2011, along with additional financial support from the Boca West Foundation. Boca West volunteers also staffed the Pantry Bag Program on Fridays, which at the time distributed 700-800 bags of perishable and non-perishable food each month.
The foundation continued to sponsor Friday lunches for seven years until it changed its focus to supporting children’s causes, renaming itself as the Boca West Children’s Foundation (BWCF) in 2017.
As BWCF transitioned to focus on youth-serving projects, it switched its support from Friday lunches to the BHH Backpacks Program. “It became abundantly clear to us that we needed to do more to support the children in our community,” Adler said. “The BHH Backpacks program was the perfect fit for our resources.”
Boca West Children’s Foundation has also stepped up to help when BHH has most needed support. In 2019, BHH’s large, refrigerated truck broke down, hampering BHH’s food distribution services. When BWCF’s board found out about this emergency need, they immediately approved a grant to fund the last $50,000 needed to purchase a brand-new, 24’ refrigerated truck.
Today, Boca West Children’s Foundation continues to fund the BHH Backpacks Program, provide volunteer support, and endorse and advocate for BHH’s programs. “Boca West Children's Foundation stands tall, beaming with pride, as we reflect on the years of unwavering support we've extended to Boca Helping Hands,” says Pamela Weinroth, the Foundation’s current Executive Director. “Together, we've woven a tapestry of compassion, illuminating countless lives with hope and opportunity.”
