Polk County nonprofits receive more than $717,000 through Impact Polk 2026

Thanks to GiveWell Community Foundation fundholders, 93 nonprofits received Impact Polk 2026 grants.

Collectively, more than 191,000 individuals will be impacted through the programs of this year’s grantees (see full list below). Examples of quality of life, affordable housing, food security, and education programs funded this year include:

Central Florida Speech and Hearing Center’s Stability Training & Empowerment Program prevents falls so older adults can remain safely at home. Two Master Teachers will train eight Community Trainers to co-lead evidence-based classes, complete fall-risk screenings, and equip family caregivers with home-safety strategies. This program will serve 360 seniors in year one, with the model continuing beyond the grant year as additional Community Trainers are added. Participants will improve strength, stability, confidence, and quality of life while reducing falls and avoidable ER visits.

Frostproof Care Center’s Housing for a Healthier Community project helps to find immediate crisis intervention by assisting with Housing/Shelter opportunities and seeks to break the cycle of housing insecurity in our community. With one-on-one counseling they review financial documents, discuss goals and obstacles, and develop a personal action plan for budgeting, saving, debt management and other steps toward housing stability. This project is designed to meet the needs of families that find themselves in a housing crisis due to lack of affordable housing, recent rent increases, and an increase in homelessness due to economic factors like job loss or reduced hours. Within Frostproof, housing budgets have gone from 30% to 50% on average. Due to the cost burden, these households are having to choose forgoing medical care or healthy food just to pay their mortgage or rent.

Society of St. Andrew’s The Florida Gleaning Network rescues and shares produce by gleaning, salvaging large loads, and hosting food distributions. They work with farmers who open their fields to volunteer gleaners once commercial harvesting is complete. Society of St. Andrews offer these services at no cost, making it easier for farmers to donate excess food than to till it under or dump it in landfills — both of which cost them money (and emissions) in fuel and labor. The local distribution of food reduces the environmental impact of food miles. Consuming good food instead of landfilling or letting it rot in the field reduces greenhouse gas emissions, all while helping the residents of Polk County.

Polk Education Foundation’s Building Better and Resilient Readers – Polk Reads is a free, in-school tutoring program three days a week for 30-minute sessions to kindergarten through third-grade students who are below proficiency in reading. By 3rd grade in Polk County Schools, only 46% can read proficiently, meaning 54% of these students are four times more likely to drop out of high school than their proficient peers. The purpose of this program is to enhance reading skills through evidence-based instructional strategies tailored to individual student needs; build resilience and grit by incorporating social-emotional learning components that encourage perseverance and a growth mindset; and create a supportive learning environment that motivates students to engage actively in their literacy development. Integrating academic support with resilience-building activities will produce well-rounded learners capable of overcoming challenges both academically and personally.

Impact Polk 2026 Grantees

• A Community Pregnancy Center DBA LifeChoice Pregnancy Resource Center’s Earn While You Learn Parenting Program received $5,000
• A Woman’s Choice’s Teen Impact Summer Abstinence Education and SHARE Program received $7,000
• Aerospace Center for Excellence’s ACE Education Programming received $10,000
• American Red Cross of Mid-Florida’s Emergency Housing Assistance for Home Fire Survivors in Polk County, Florida received $5,000
• Angels Care Center of Eloise’s Women’s Health Initiative received $10,000
• Best Buddies’ Polk County School Friendship Expansion Project received $5,000
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay’s Comprehensive Mentoring Program received $5,000
• Bok Tower Gardens’s Bok Tower Gardens For All Program received $10,000
• Breast Cancer Foundation of Central Florida’s Supporting Breast Cancer Clients During Active Treatment received $5,000
• Camp Fire U.S.A. Sunshine Council’s Summer of Sparks 2026 received $19,000
• Camp Gilead CBM Ministries of Florida’s Summer 2026 Scholarship and Financial Aid received $15,000
• Central Florida Health Care’s Improving Patient Health Through Prescription Cost Assistance received $5,000
• Central Florida Speech and Hearing Center’s Stability Training & Empowerment Program received $5,000
• Children’s Home Society of Florida’s Parents as Partners – Strengthens Family Reunification received $10,000
• Combee Connection Ministries and Church’s Helping provide much needed resources for the underserved received $5,000
• ConnectED Polk’s Viva Polk World Languages Integration Project received $10,000
• Cypress Junction Montessori’s Early Education Scholarship Fund received $5,000
• Destiknee Place’s Helping Pre and Post Incarcerated Women Regain Their Lives for a Brighter Future received $5,000
• Dream Center of Lakeland’s Building a Stronger Community by providing comprehensive basic needs support for vulnerable residents received $20,000
• Drug Prevention Resource Center dba InnerAct Alliance’s Prevention – Super Power for Youth received $2,500
• Faith in Action North Lakeland’s Thriving Seniors received $15,000
• Faith Without Works’ Camp Compassion 2K26 “Mental Health Matters” received $10,000
• Faith Xtreme’s Food For All received $5,000
• Family Literacy Academy of Lake Wales’ “Where Families Build Their Lives Through Education” received $9,500
• First Friday Kids Support Group’s Weekend Food Program received $7,500
• Florence Villa Community Development Corp.’s Youth Leadership Development Program received $2,500
• Florida Children’s Museum’s Able Arts received $5,000
• Florida Southern College’s Beyond the Pencil: Building Cursive and Digital Writing Fluency at The Roberts Academy received $5,526
• Frostproof Care Center’s Housing for a Healthier Community received $10,000
• Frostproof Dawgs’ Literacy for Athletes 2026 received $2,000
• Girl Scouts of West Central Florida’s Girl Scout Community Troop Program in Polk County received $5,000
• Good Shepherd Hospice’s 2026 Camp Brave Heart: Grief Camp for Children and Teens received $5,000
• Habitat for Humanity of East Polk County’s Repairing Homes for Dignity and Independence received $5,000
• Healthy Start Coalition of Hardee, Highlands & Polk Counties’ Beds 4 Babies Project received $5,000
• Heart for Winter Haven’s Dollars & Sense: Financial Literacy Camp 2026 received $5,000
• Heartland for Children’s Creating Safety and Security for Children in the Child Welfare System received $5,000
• HELP of Fort Meade’s HELP Fort Meade Live received $15,000
• Homeless Coalition of Polk County’s B.R.I.D.G.E. – Building Resources for Individuals to Gain Dignity and Empowerment received $10,000
• Humane Society of Polk County’s Better Together: Building a Humane Polk County Through Prevention received $2,500
• Idols Aside Ministries’ Sons without Fathers received $10,000
• Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay’s JA High School Heroes received $8,550
• Lake Aurora Christian Camp & Retreat Center’s Summer Camp Scholarships for East Polk County Youth received $13,000
• Lake Wales Arts Council’s Youth Arts Education Program received $10,000
• Lake Wales Care Center’s C.A.R.E. Plan received $7,755.99
• Lake Wales History Museum’s Kids Club at The Freight received $10,000
• Lake Wales Little Theatre’s Teen and Children’s Productions received $5,000
• Lakeland Community Theatre’s Out of the Box Theatre Troupe for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities received $5,000
• Lakeland Habitat for Humanity’s Leaky Roofs received $5,000
• Lakeland Police Athletic League’s 2026 Summer Youth Engagement Initiative received $10,000
• Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine’s Pathways to Wellness received $5,000
• Learning Resource Center of Polk County’s Camp READY! Lakeland 2026 received $19,706
• Leverage International’s Middle School Youth Mentoring Breakfast Club received $5,000
• Liberty Link Foundation 360 Non-Profit’s WellSmile: Oral Health Impacts Overall Health received $6,000
• Meals on Wheels of Polk County’s Angel “No Cost” Meal & Reduced Cost Program received $10,000
• Mentors, Music, & Sports’ Youth Empowerment Through Music and Arts 2026 received $5,000
• Merkaii Medical Societe’s Kaii Healthcare Workforce Empowerment Initiative received $7,500
• Mi Escuela Montessori ’s Brain Building Beginnings: Birth to Four received $2,500
• Mulberry Community Service’s Meeting Community Needs One Family at a Time received $5,000
• Museum of Science & Industry’s MOSI in Motion Programming for Polk County Title I Schools received $10,000
• Narrow Path Outreach’s Robotics STEM Camp For Elementary and Middle School Students received $5,000
• Operation Warm’s New Shoes or Coats for Under-Resourced Polk County Children received $5,000
• Peace River Center’s Laundry upgrades for Lakeland Domestic Violence Shelter received $6,000
• Platform Art’s PlatformKIDS Art Festival 2026/2027 – Improving Student Academics through Art received $10,000
• Polk County Public Schools’ The Renaissance Program: A Student Success Initiative Focused on Strengthening Academics, Behavior, and Attendance received $5,000
• Polk County Sheriff’s Office’s Project Safe and Sound received $2,500
• Polk Education Foundation’s Building Better and Resilient Readers – Polk Reads received $15,000
• Polk Vision’s Early Literacy Initiatives received $5,000
• Project Love of Eloise’s Lots of Laundry Program received $2,500
• READ Lakeland’s Technology in the 21st Century: Transportable Literacy Connection received $3,000
• Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA)’s Expanding Access: After-School Enrichment and Scholarships at RCMA Mulberry Community Academy received $10,000
• Society of St. Andrew’s The Florida Gleaning Network received $5,000
• Society of St. Vincent de Paul South Pinellas’s SVdP CARES Delivering Dreams – Polk received $5,000
• Solid Foundation Ministries Church’s HOPE in Highland City received $15,000
• Southeastern University (SEU)’s Robert and Sandra Graper Early Childhood Center (Early SEU Pre-K Classical Education) received $20,000
• Step Up For Students’ Step Up For Students: Expanding Awareness of Educational Scholarships in Polk County received $5,000
• Talbot House Ministries of Lakeland’s Solutions Employment and Life Skills Program – Winter Haven Center for Women and Children received $15,000
• The Cosmo Project’s Serving the homeless and at-risk of homeless population of Lakeland received $3,000
• The Freedom Tour’s Food Cruiser For Kids received $10,000
• The Haley Center’s Improved Quality of Life: If you cannot see, you cannot perform efficiently or effectively received $10,000
• The Mission of Winter Haven’s Nourishing Children, Building Futures received $4,500
• The Vanguard School of Lake Wales, Florida’s Scholarships for Polk County students received $5,000
• Theatre Winter Haven’s Arts for the Underserved received $5,000
• Tri-County Human Services’ Detox to Aftercare received $5,000
• Victory Ridge Academy’s Schoolwide Behavior Management System received $2,500
• Warner University’s Scholarships for Low-Income Students from Polk County received $10,000
• Watson Clinic Foundation’s HeART of Care received $2,500
• Webber International University’s Skilled Workforce Training Scholarship Program received $15,000
• West Central Florida Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Sports Elementary After School Leagues received $3,000
• Wheelchairs 4 Kids’ Let’s Roll received $10,000
• WonderHere Education Foundation’s Wonder on Wheels received $5,000
• YMCA of West Central Florida’s Kindergarten Safety Around Water ’26 received $10,000
• Young Life of Polk County’s Summer Camp Transportation received $10,000
• Youth for Christ of Polk County’s Summer Camps with “At-Risk Youth” in Polk County received $20,000

Impact Polk 2026 Overview

Grants By Program Type:

The United Community Needs Assessment (UCNA) for Polk County, Florida, conducted by GiveWell Community Foundation and United Way of Central Florida, identified six (6) domains that impact the lives of residents in Polk County. This year, Impact Polk’s focus was on the following areas: