LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Heaven Hill Brands today presented the Coalition for the Homeless with a $16,512.67 donation benefiting efforts to end youth homelessness. Philanthropy is an important part of Heaven Hill’s mission to improve the local communities in which the business thrives by offering charitable support for education, cultural enrichment and health and well-being.
Each year Heaven Hill Brands is proud to host an employee-driven and collaborative fundraising project that benefits charities close to its employees’ hearts. The company looks to its employees to submit non-profit organizations to be considered as the recipient of a company-wide, employee-led fundraising effort, with matching funds from the company up to $5,000. Past recipients have included Feeding America, Portland Elementary, Flaget Memorial Hospital’s Project Hope, and Ronald McDonald House.
For the fourth Annual Philanthropy Project, Heaven Hill chose the Coalition for the Homeless, which was submitted by Betty Jo Boone, Bottling House Maintenance Technician at the Heaven Hill Bardstown Plant. This organization holds a special place in her heart because her daughter Erica Johns, a previous Heaven Hill employee, now works for the Coalition. Betty Jo chose the Coalition because she believes the current homelessness crisis in Louisville is heartbreaking, but ultimately preventable. When she was six years old, Betty Jo experienced a personal homelessness crisis when her childhood home caught fire leaving her family with nowhere to live.
“Back then we didn’t have organizations like the Coalition to help us through tough times,” said Betty Jo. “Luckily my father was a skilled builder and was able to rebuild our home fairly quickly. Many children, young adults, and families are not so fortunate, and I can’t imagine wondering where I’m going to sleep from night to night. This is why the work of the Coalition is so important.”
The Coalition for the Homeless is a nonprofit organization with a mission to prevent and end homelessness in Louisville. Since 2017, the Coalition and its partners have reduced homelessness among youth and young adults by 78 percent, with an ultimate goal of ending homelessness among young adults by 2020.
Together, through several fundraising initiatives between September and December 2019, Heaven Hill employees raised over $16,000 for the Coalition for the Homeless Louisville. In addition to this donation, the company hosted a collection of clothing and other items for the cause. In total, employees gathered over 20 large boxes and bags of items to donate.
“I was so thankful and inspired when I heard about this collaboration of time to collect both money and items for the Coalition,” said Natalie Harris, Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless. “Over the last decade we have worked really hard to try to end homelessness, and we have made great strides. However, if you live in Louisville you will see that there are still a lot of homeless individuals in our community and that is why it is so important for businesses and individuals to look for ways they can help join the effort and end homelessness in our city. I want to thank Heaven Hill for being such a great example of what that can look like.”
Heaven Hill is proud of its employees’ commitment to giving back to the community and excited to see the impact this donation makes in Metro Louisville.
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