Foundation Unveils Matching Grant Challenge

L-R: Danita DeHaney, Shawn Donnelley
and Julie Fisher Cummings
​Photos by Tracey Benson Photography

(PRESS RELEASE)_Palm Beach, Fla. (February 27, 2023) – The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties unveiled a new $100,000 matching grant challenge during the organization’s 10th Annual Founders Luncheon held at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. As part of the challenge, the Community Foundation’s newly established Community Mental Health Fund, and three other mental health-focused organizations, will each receive up to $25,000 in matching funds. The Community Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that creates partnerships with donors, nonprofits and community members to solve the region’s chronic and emerging issues.
 
The match challenge was established and announced by Shawn Donnelley in honor of her mother Margaret Donnelley, a lifelong philanthropist and mental health advocate. Margaret Donnelley was also presented with the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties 2023 McIntosh Award during the luncheon.
 
“Margaret Donnelley’s vision of a community without stigma for individuals and families suffering from mental illness, as well as her efforts toward prevention, continue to be pioneering,” said Danita R. DeHaney, President & CEO, Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. “We are incredibly thankful that her daughter Shawn is following in her mother’s footsteps by supporting the new Community Mental Health Fund with her generous match challenge.”
 
The four funds benefitting from the match challenge are:

• Mental Health America of Palm Beach County Endowment Fund
• NAMI of Palm Beach County Endowment Fund
• Autism Project of Palm Beach County, Inc. Endowment Fund
• Community Mental Health Fund, which was created in honor of Margaret Donnelley

 
Donations of up to $25,000 to each of these funds will be matched by Shawn Donnelley. The $100,000 match challenge runs through June 30, 2023. To make a donation or learn more about the funds, please visit https://yourcommunityfoundation.org.
 
"For more than fifty years my mother has fought to make mental health treatment available for everyone in our community,” said Shawn Donnelley. “Although she has accomplished more in one lifetime than even seems possible, the fight is not over. This challenge will allow others to join her in supporting those most in need.”

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