2022 GIVING & IMPACT
The Alonso Foundation works year round to aid those in need, providing funding and support to many organizations. These reports are our opportunity to look back to better understand what that support translated to in actual impact for the beneficiaries and document our legacy.
“Life’s persistent and most important question is, what are you doing for others.”
– REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
2022 Impact Report
ABOUT THE ALONSO FOUNDATION
In 2020, Haley and Pete formed the Alonso Foundation to give back to those in their community and stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.
The Alonso Foundation strives to support causes that lessen hardships and improve life for those in need.
We are achieving these goals through a combination of grant-making, advocacy and legacy programs which create a positive and lasting impact in our world.
Our areas of impact include:
YOUTH CAUSES
AID FOR VETERANS
ANIMAL WELFARE
These pillars are at the core of our giving mission. Always looking to create a brighter future for others, Haley and Pete Alonso have streamlined funding to align with organizations focused in these areas.
Within the three pillars several common themes exist which the Alonso Foundation also hopes to address and improve directly. They include a focus on mental health, safe outdoor play and reduced screen time for youth, access to much needed rehabilitation services, reduction of animal euthanization, and distracted driving.
“A year of giving, a lifetime of impact”
Our goal is to develop long lasting and legacy type relationships with organizations working to better the situations faced by so many across the communities we serve. Special attention has also been given to disaster relief this year and helping on the ground when life has been painfully disrupted. The Alonso Foundation can be relied on to act swiftly to aid in the recovery of such emergencies.
The pages that follow introduce a number of organizations that received grants and donations this year and how these funds translated into impact and assistance for those in need.
COMMUNITY COOPERATIVE INC.
The mission of Community Cooperative is to eliminate hunger and homelessness in southwest Florida while simultaneously inspiring and supporting sustained positive change in its clients by delivering innovative food, education and social service programs. Specifically, at the time of Hurricane Ian, Alonso Foundation funds equated to delivering 2,500 meals for those displaced and in need.
“Grateful doesn’t seem like a big enough emotion, but please know how grateful we are. We cannot thank Pete and Haley enough for stepping up to the plate (bad pun I know) to help Southwest Florida recover.”
- Stefanie Ink Edwards, CEO
DIRECT RELIEF
MISSION: Direct Relief works to equip health professionals in resource poor communities to meet the challenges of diagnosing and caring for people in need.
“With the gift from The Alonso Foundation, Direct Relief was able to:
Deliver more than 247 emergency shipments of medical aid valued at $2.8 million to 80 health centers across Florida in response to Hurricane Ian.
Deliver more than 90 shipments of medical aid valued at $484,000 to 23 community health centers across Puerto Rico in response to Hurricane Fiona
Their involvement ensured that community health centers have the resources they need to care for the most vulnerable in their community, especially after a natural disaster. Children, pregnant mothers, the elderly, and individuals who are managing a chronic medical condition rely on community health centers to access the care they need regardless of their ability to pay for services.
On behalf of the staff and everyone who benefitted through Direct Relief’s help, thank you.” - Greg Mora, Associate Director
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
– WINSTON CHURCHILL
HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS
Homes For Our Troops would like to thank The Alonso Foundation for their incredibly generous support. Their generosity allows us to continue our critical mission of building and donating specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives by putting down roots and paying it forward. Here are just two examples of the impact that gifts such as The Alonso Foundation’s make:
For SSG Frank Wasson, his wife Brooke, and their two sons and daughter, the house we built for them has enabled the family to do so many things. “This is a forever home for my family and me to enjoy, we don’t have to worry about when our next move will be,” he says. Since moving into his home in 2020, Frank has been able to dedicate more time to coaching his sons’ baseball teams and going back to school. He has also coordinated and established multiple youth strength and conditioning camps for young athletes during their off-season.
Over the past few years, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rebecca Mann has not let her injuries slow her down. To stay active, she loves sports, her three dogs (including her service dog Sully) and going for hikes in the woods. Since adaptive sports have helped her significantly during recovery, Rebecca would like to do outreach for the programs that were beneficial in her recovery. “Adaptive sports saved me in the worst of times, and I want to help other Veterans and youth to have access to sports as I have,” she says. Rebecca is scheduled to receive her new HFOT home this spring. President and CEO of Homes For Our Troops Tom Landwermeyer shares, “We are very grateful for the Alonso Foundation’s contribution to our mission and to our Annual Celebrity Auction. Their support increases awareness of our cause and helps us build more homes for deserving Veterans.”
K9S FOR WARRIORS
“We are incredibly grateful for the support of The Alonso Foundation to further our mission to end veteran suicide,” said K9s For Warriors CEO Carl Cricco. “K9s For Warriors has the privilege every day to see the impact a Service Dog has on a veteran. With a battle buddy by their side, the veteran returns to a life of dignity and independence. The Foundation’s generosity allows us to continue changing veteran lives.”
The Alonso Foundation generously donated the funds needed to sponsor the training of a Service Dog (whom they named Bear, pictured below). Once training is complete, this Service Dog will be paired with a veteran suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and/or military sexual trauma. With roughly 20 veterans taking their own lives every day, K9s For Warriors is determined to end veteran suicide through Service Dogs. The Alonso Foundation is playing a key role in making that happen by getting a Service Dog in the hands of a veteran in need. With a new battle buddy by their side, graduates of the K9s For Warriors program are able to live a life that they previously did not think was possible. Many have reunited with their families, gone back to school, found renewed enjoyment in life, and significantly reduced their medications.
North Shore Animal League America
MISSION: Every year, an estimated 2,000,000 homeless pets are euthanized. Our goal: a no-kill world where all homeless pets find loving homes.
The significant donation from the Alonso Foundation helped North Shore Animal League America save approximately 150 homeless animals. A donation of this level helps to offset our costs for veterinary exams, transportation costs, and animal care for three of our recent Humane Relocation Program rescues which each involved about 50 animals. We rescue homeless animals from overcrowded and/or life-threatening locations in other states and transport them to our no-kill campus where they receive nurturing care and ultimately are paired with responsible, loving adopters.
PRxPR
The Alonso Foundation’s donation was allocated to our Food Box program.
This grant program targets small agro ecological farmers in the mountainous region of Adjuntas. With the funds, we buy native product (fresh vegetables and fruits) from the farmers. They packaged the goods in 25lbs boxes which are then taken to the northern coast and distributed to elders who are facing food insecurity challenges. This donation allowed PRxPR to purchase 200 - 25lbs boxes, a total of 5,000lbs of healthy, fresh, locally produced food and distribute it at a critical time immediately after Hurricane Fiona.
It is through the generosity of organizations like the Alonso Foundation that PRxPR has been able to distribute locally grown food to disadvantaged elders by purchasing the affected crops of small Puerto Rican farmers - who saw their production devastated by Hurricane Fiona. We are most grateful for the partnership and support in helping Puerto Rico raise up once again.
TUESDAY’S CHILDREN
Tuesday’s Children was built on the support of our community, and we couldn’t provide our vital programing without the generosity of our donors, partners, volunteers and supporters. Since 2001, we have served over 45,000 individuals through consistent and successful evidence-based programs—trauma and grief support, youth mentoring, mental health services, skills-building workshops, career resources, parenting advisement, youth leadership development, community-based family engagement events and volunteerism opportunities. In 2022, building on more than two decades of service, we continue to create many more opportunities to establish and maintain connection and community for the families we serve.
The Alonso Foundation’s significant grant enabled us to continue our mission as we turn pain into purpose, hope and resilience. Specifically, these funds were earmarked for the expansion of our youth in-person, hybrid, and virtual peer support groups which enable the critical sharing amongst Gold Star families and more recently those impacted by mass-trauma.
“We are so incredibly grateful to Haley and Pete for their leadership in this space and their ongoing efforts to improve the lives of those impacted by violence, including first responders.”
- John Cahalane, Chairman
While we are extremely proud of the growth of our work this past year, we are equally excited for the anticipated increases in both grant funds and impact The Alonso Foundation plans to deliver in 2023.
A key program and area of emphasis will be a new multiyear grant with the City of Tampa to refurbish youth baseball and softball fields therefore improving safety and enjoyment surrounding the game that has made all of this possible.
Our significant steps forward this year have truly created the basis for the long term, legacy giving that inspires us which our grantees and partners, and ultimately their recipients and members, benefit from.
2023 & BEYOND
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”
– MUHAMMAD ALI