On behalf of the Zukowski Family foundation, I would like to thank all of you, our supporters, for your continued generosity over the past 11 years.
We started the Zukowski Family Foundation in 2008 as a means for our family to give back. Our foundation is chartered with helping children, as well as organizations that are directly involved with helping children, in the United States.
R.J., Carissa, Cheryl and I play an active role alongside several dedicated board members, such as my cousin George Reed, a board member since 2012, Todd Shaw, a wealth management adviser with Raymond James, and a board member since 2008, and Professor Joe Proulx, a distinguished professor at the University of Maryland, School of Nursing, and a board member since 2008. This past year Tom and Paula Banas, both retired lifelong educators, stepped down after serving on our board since our inception. We can’t thank them enough for their instrumental role in establishing our relationships during our nascent years. We are where we are today because of their efforts — Thank you, Tom and Paula!
Our aim is to ensure that one hundred percent of all contributions go directly to children or organizations directly involved with helping children in the United States. We feel very fortunate and blessed to have been able to match 100% of all contributions since our inception. Without your continued support we would not have seen the year over year growth we have been able to experience…Thank you!
2019 was another strong year; our scholarship program, and our relationships with The Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, and the Charity Cycling Committee all remained at previous year’s levels of support.
I’m pleased to report that as we entered into our second year with the Plymouth Food Bank, we were able to increase last year’s support by 10%. Our goal is to be able to meet all their needs and requests for the months of November and December. This year’s estimate is that in the month of November they will reach more than 171 families, with 107 children within those families and December being equal or slightly higher than our November projections.
One of our longest standing relationships is with The Hole In The Wall Gang in Ashford, Connecticut. This organization was founded in 1988 by Paul Newman in order to create an environment to provide fun, foster friendship and create a world of possibilities — they offer a different kind of healing to more than 25,000 seriously ill children and their family members. We feel blessed to have partnered with such a wonderful, thoughtful organization and are proud that 2019 will mark our ninth year of being able to increase our year over year support.
Finally, our scholarship program along with our Leon T. Banas Educator award has seen steady and strong support, exceeding our annual goals for the past 11 years with a total of 46 recipients to date.
As we look to the future, we want to ensure that we don’t rely on the past. Our motto from Abraham Lincoln is: “The best way to predict the future is to create it,” which reminds us that we are all accountable for choosing and creating our own destiny. We also want to ensure that this message is relayed to all those in our network, especially those involved with our scholarship program. Our energy is focused on becoming more impactful, increasingly efficient, and delivering increased value year over year. We want to improve and continue to challenge the status quo; we strive to ensure that continuous improvement is part of our DNA and that we are able to continue our relations for generations to come.
We understand that without your generous support we would not be able to reach our goals. The support you provide enables us to accomplish so much more than we thought possible.
As we begin to head into this holiday-season we ask that you give special consideration to the Zukowski Family Foundation by lending your support.
You can donate through our website zukowskifoundation.org or by mailing a check to:
The Zukowski Family Foundation
15 Rue Grande Mer
Palm Coast, FL 32137
Again, on behalf of our board members, our family, and everyone we partner with and serve, we thank you for your continued support and generosity.
Thank you and Happy Holidays
Ray and Cheryl Zukowski
