Blog

With so many impactful global changes that have developed over the past eighteen months, we have been focused more than ever on adapting our resources to make the maximum impact within our Vision & Mission.

Our Charter over the past fourteen years has been to focus on helping children in the United States of America. With limited resources we felt it was the best approach in establishing long-lasting, meaningful relations, while allowing us to be more directly involved with recipients and the organizations that serve them.

We are proud of the consistency of our relationships that have been built over the past fourteen years and the impact and growth we have been able to demonstrate with many of our partners.  As a small family-foundation we continue to challenge our assumptions, our abilities, and the impact we can or hope to be making. With all that is happening in the world we felt it was a good time for us to readjust some of our assumptions to see if there were any areas that we could or should be looking towards to lend our support.

At the onset of the rise of civilian casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war earlier this year, we looked for ways to help evacuation efforts for children. While this was outside of our comfort zone initially, we were fortunate enough to be introduced to Brygitte & Charlie Lusinski. They have worked tirelessly over the past decade to build and provide orphanages around the globe in countries that have less than adequate resources for homeless children. After several discussions and in-person meetings with the Lusinski’s, we, along with several of our neighbors here in the Hammock Dunes Community, rallied around the orphanage in the Ukraine near Poland’s border to help get more than 100+ children out of the war zone. Brygitte and team worked with an initial seven Catholic Churches along the border to get the children to safety first then worked with over 250 churches in Poland to get the children placed based on family connections, availability, and local resources.  This was our first new endeavor in over a decade and our very first relationship outside the U.S. I’d like to thank the ZFF Board of Directors for making this a top priority and Charlie & Brygitte for being such great stewards and advocates for children across the globe.

Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the impact of rapidly rising inflation, the needs of the Plymouth Food Pantry rose faster than resources could keep up with.  In working alongside Larry Chiucarello, the Director of the Plymouth Food Bank, we were able to help fill-in some of the shortages to handle the uptick in costs and demand. Larry and team also were able to implement their HealthVCheck program.  In the future the Plymouth Food Pantry hopes to become a larger resource center for the town by offering programs that include, healthy cooking classes and seminars, support on how-to manage finances, and second-hand clothing distribution.  We are very proud of the Plymouth Food Pantry and the positive impact they continue to make in their community.…. Thank you, Larry, and team, for all that you do and being a great partner.

And finally, we end with the Hole in the Wall Gang — “For 35 years, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp has been guided by Founder Paul Newman’s creative spirit, expanding programming to bring joy and hope to more children with serious illnesses while also increasing opportunities for their families to experience the healing power of Camp all year long,” said CEO James Canton in his most recent update.  They have grown from 288 campers in 1988 to more than 20,000 annually.  This has inspired them to expand into other areas.

According to Canton, the camp’s “multi-year exploration of adding a Mid-Atlantic location took an unexpected turn when the Aspen Institute’s 166-acre Wye River Conference Center in Queenstown, MD was for sale and the board was willing to donate most of the historic property to the Hole in the Wall Gang.  Maryland’s Eastern Shore represents an ideal Hole in the Wall location for many reasons.  The Connecticut location’s on-site programming primarily serves those traveling from within a three-hour radius in the Northeast.  The Maryland location will create an adjacent three-hour radius in the Mid-Atlantic, which contains some of the nation’s most prominent pediatric hospitals treating many of the populations that camp hopes to serve at the Maryland location.” Given our past and current commitments with the Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore along with our previous commitments with the Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital, we are excited to continue to deepen our relationship with The Hole in the Wall Gang as they continue to expand their capabilities and footprint in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Our entire ZFF board has visited their Ashford Connecticut facilities multiple times and has witnessed the impact that this camp has on seriously ill children and their families… It is a cause that we have stood behind for the past decade with increasing commitments each year. Our aim is to be able to continue this positive trend far into the future.

We would like to thank all our supporters who have given so generously throughout our journey.  We could not have grown and had the consistency we have provided throughout the past fourteen years without your ongoing support, not only financially but spiritually, being by our side, we have always felt your presence.  Thank you!

There is a lot more to be done before we finish the year.  We will provide a final update in early February 2023…. Until then here’s to a strong finish for 2022!

We hope you will lend your support by contributing to our Vision & Mission and helping us make a difference.

Warm Regards,
Ray

P.S. The Zukowski Family Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization…If you’d like to donate, please do so by visiting our website at the zukowskifamilyfoundation.org/donate. Or mailing a check to:
6 Valencia Court
Palm Coast FL 32137