The Moorings Park Foundation recently awarded 54 scholarships to employees and their family members, totaling $300,000. Selected by a committee of which includes residents of Moorings Park Communities’ three Life Plan community locations in Naples, Moorings Park, Moorings Park at Grey Oaks, and Moorings Park Grande Lake, the students will have the opportunity to renew their scholarships for a second year. The average gift award is $4,500 per year for two years.
“Moorings Park members created the foundation in 1996 with employee scholarships as one of its priorities,” said resident and Foundation board chairman, Alan Horton. “Of all the charitable works of our foundation, we always fund our employee scholarships first.”
Gifted to Better Serve Seniors
The scholarships are part of a million dollars in charitable giving that Moorings Park Foundation will do this year. Much of it is focused on a largely neglected sector of need, local Collier seniors. Only 6% of national philanthropy focuses on seniors’ needs, yet local seniors make up a greater than usual part of our county’s population.
“The senior industry provides hundreds of jobs in our area, and we need every single employee in order to properly care for our older population, from hospitality to nursing. The Foundation’s scholarships help build a critical local workforce,” said Mary Kohlasch, Director of Human Resources at Moorings Park Communities.
Lending Collier County a Helping Hand
Since 2019, the Moorings Park Foundation has raised a million dollars from its members specifically to fund another special project: affordable workforce housing in Collier County. Combined with substantial funds from the Moorings Park Foundation and two additional local foundations, a total of $10 million will be accessed by a non-profit developer to build and manage an affordable housing complex on Golden Gate. Groundbreaking is anticipated in Fall 2021.
“Our residents know that specific activities improve quality of life as we age. It’s natural for us to want to boost successful aging for the seniors all over our county,” said Kohlasch.
