The 2008 Orlando Magic Youth Foundation check presentation ceremony. The total amount of discretionary grants provided was $621,350.

The Orlando Magic Youth Foundation (OMYF), a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation is committed to helping every child in Central Florida realize their full potential, especially those most at risk, by supporting programs and partnerships that empower families and change lives. The Magic, DeVos family and fans continue to raise money for the OMYF and the match provided by the McCormick Tribune Foundation has resulted in $14 million to non-profit organizations in the community over the last 18 years. Discretionary grants were provided to the following agencies:

2007-2008 OMYF Grant Recipient Agencies

A Gift for Teaching- $25,000
A Gift for Teaching operates a Free Store where teachers in Central Florida’s high-need schools can “shop” for supplies at no cost. Through donations from local companies and individuals they are able to giveaway nearly $30,000 worth of product daily. These items go directly into the hands of local students for individual and classroom use.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay- $25,000
The $25,000 grant from OMYF allows Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay to provide 50 at-risk children in Polk County with a caring adult mentor who will focus on improving that child’s ability to achieve academically. Children in this program are usually those most at-risk. For many, attendance at school is viewed as “optional.” A large number of the youth are referred by teachers who cite classroom behavior problems, poor peer relationships, low self-esteem, or issues with honesty as the major stumbling blocks to the child’s ability to achieve academically. Mentors are friends who sometimes tutor or help with homework, often have conversations with teachers, and encourage the child in class.

Boy Scouts of America- $28,000
The Central Florida Council has been successful in guiding young people through the hazards that exist in their communities and into a far more fruitful existence since 1922. It is our mission, through the Scoutreach program, to provide at-risk youth who desperately need guidance and role models with a quality Scouting program that will enable them to recognize and reach their full potential by making the right choices to accomplish their goals, to see what they can become through making the right choices, by working hard and opening their eyes to possibilities of a more constructive lifestyle.

Boys Town- $40,000
Boys Town of Central Florida provides help, healing and hope to children that are abandoned, neglected and or abused. In our mission to change the way America cares for her children and families, we provide a continuum of care that strengthens them in mind, body and spirit. Children in our care receive positive nurturing in a family lifestyle environment. The grant received will support the children in our infant, toddler and adolescent emergency shelters.

Children’s Home Society - $40,000
For over 106 years, Children's Home Society of Florida (CHS) has been embracing children and inspiring lives. Currently, CHS serves 10,000 children and families in Central Florida annually by providing 20 services ranging from emergency shelters for abused and abandoned children, foster care, adoption services, mentoring programs and case management.

Community Coordinated Care for Children - $30,000
Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc. (4C) strives to enhance the affordability, accessibility, and quality of child care. The $30,000 grant from OMYF will provide support for our Early Learning Program. Through the Program, young children from low income working families gain access to care in programs that help prepare them to enter school ready to learn.

Community Life Center - $30,000
Community Life Center, operated by For All “HIS” Children Christian Ministries, Inc., was established in 1996 through the vision of Pastor Phyllis Gregory. She recognized a need in the West Volusia County community that was not being fulfilled. Her mission was to provide social services including food, clothing, information and referral. The $30,000 grant from OMYF will allow Community Life Center to purchase a much needed van, and liberate funds to provide for capacity building and expand services to the increasing number of West Volusia County needy families.

Epilepsy Association of Central Florida - $10,000
The Epilepsy Association of Central Florida was established in 1967 to “improve the quality of life of persons affected by epilepsy”. In doing this, one of the goals of the Association is to prevent acquired forms of epilepsy, one being head injury. This $10,000 grant from the OMYF allows us to distribute an additional 1,000 bicycle helmets to economically disadvantaged children in Central Florida whose families cannot afford to purchase on for their own. Bicycle accidents are the leading cause of head injury in children, and head injury is the leading cause of epilepsy.

Foundation for Seminole County Public Schools - $30,000
The Foundation for Seminole County Public Schools, Inc., the philanthropic arm for Seminole County Public Schools, oversees Take Stock in Children, a statewide mentor/scholarship program. Income-eligible students who have portrayed the drive to further their education beyond high school, but who financially will never have the opportunity to even dream of a continued education, will be awarded a 2+2 scholarship upon graduation. Take Stock in Children has proven to impact impoverished areas and has encouraged siblings, and even parents, to complete their educations. Many of these students are "first-time" high school graduates in the family, not to mention "first-time" college students in the family. This $30,000 grant will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the state through a program called STARS.

Gift of Swimming - $10,000
The Gift of Swimming, Inc., NPO was established to provide fully paid swim scholarships for potentially lifesaving swimming training to the community’s underprivileged, economically disadvantaged and developmentally disabled children. The $10,000 grant from the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, will allow 67 Orange County Head Start children to receive 1,666 swim lessons. This program will increase the water safety skills and improve physical fitness of at-risk Head Start children.

Harbor House - $30,000
Harbor House Emergency Shelter provides children (and their moms) with services to keep them safe and to meet their emotional, social, physical and cognitive needs. With the support of OMYF, we are able to have a team of advocates available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are responsible for crisis counseling, lethality assessments, safety planning, individual and group counseling, advocacy, service management and community referrals. Harbor House is committed to helping each survivor, child and mom, begin to heal from the trauma of abuse and prepare to integrate back into the community to live independent and violence free.

Health Care Center for the Homeless - $25,000
The Health Care Center for the Homeless has been a provider of health care services to the homeless and uninsured populations of Central Florida for more than a decade. The OMYF grant will be used to support clinical services targeted at our pediatric population and their families. These services will include: examinations, immunizations, well child examinations as well as developmental assessments. HCCH also provides services that include behavioral health counseling for children and their families, pharmacy services, and medical and dental community outreach to other community partners.

The House Next Door - $12,000
The purpose and goals of The House Next Door has always been, and continues to be, prevention based family counseling, parenting education, and youth life skills programs and workshops. The mission of The House Next Door is to nurture and empower families to help build stronger communities. The House Next Door now serves more than 2,500 families in Volusia and Flagler Counties annually. The Homework Club provides academic and life skills to elementary and middle school youth who participate in the West Volusia Police Athletic League. The targeted youth are low-income, predominantly unsupervised, and living in a high crime environment with constant exposure to drug abuse and violence. This program will provide supervised activities, mentoring, life skills training, tutoring and academic enrichment skills to assist the targeted youth in overcoming the negative messages of their community.

Lake Sumter Children’s Advocacy Center - $15,000
Incorporated in 1997, the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) is the result of a grass roots movement to provide coordinated services in a child-friendly environment to child victims of sexual and/or physical abuse. Services include videotaped forensic interviews, access to forensic medical exams, court advocacy, prevention education, and crisis and long-term counseling. The grant of $15,000 from OMYF will be used to expand the Play Therapy Program and to expand our “Good Touch/Bad Touch Program” to include Internet Safety to elementary and middle school children and their parents.

Lakeside Behavioral Healthcare - $10,000
Lakeside Behavioral Healthcare, Inc. provides compassionate, comprehensive and cost effective behavioral health care services to the people of Central Florida. The $10,000 grant OMYF supports the Magic Resource Library, where our children’s therapists can borrow state-of-the-art therapeutic materials to more effectively engage troubled children and their families in therapy. Our therapists serve up to 1200 children every year, each with unique problems requiring unique solutions with the goal being improved functioning and completion of treatment plan goals.

LifeStream Behavior Center - $20,000
LifeStream’s Child Care Choice Services offers specialized services and programs that give children a competitive start in life, with an emphasis on early education, behavioral health, family preservation and quality, affordable child care.

Lighthouse of Central Florida - $25,000
Lighthouse Central Florida, Inc. offers training, education and counseling for individuals of all ages who have low vision or are blind. Services are offered at Lighthouse's facility, in community locations, in the home and in group or individual settings. “Vision Rehabilitation Services for Children and their Families” serves children who are visually impaired or blind and who often have additional disabilities. Comprehensive services focus on vision needs of the child related to developmental and specific skill areas essential to school readiness and daily living that result from impaired vision.

North Brevard Charities Sharing Center - $20,000
North Brevard Charities Sharing Center, Inc. was established in 1958 and fifty years of service and thousands of families being assisted speaks volumes for our capacity to affect change in our community. Through our $20,000 grant from the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, North Brevard Charities will provide critical financial assistance to families in need. We will assist families with their rent, utilities and prescription medication. We expect to serve over 180 additional clients with this generous grant.

Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra - $30,000
The Orlando Philharmonic is Central Florida's resident professional orchestra, appearing in over 125 performances annually. Its mission is to foster and promote symphonic music through excellence in performance, education and cultural leadership.

Orlando Repertory Theatre - $8,000
The Orlando Repertory Theatre (The REP) is a professional theatre for young audiences located in Loch Haven Park. Our mission is to enlighten, entertain and enrich children and adults by producing theatre of exceptional quality. With the grant received from OMYF, the REP will provide approximately 1,250 low-income elementary school children in six Osceola County schools with complimentary or greatly discounted tickets to field trip performances at the REP.

Quest - $50,000
QuestKids is an early-intervention behavior therapy center that provides proven Applied Behavior Analysis and therapy for children with autism (including autism spectrum disorders, pervasive developmental delay, Down’s syndrome, etc). Funds from OMYF will enable QuestKids to hire one Primary Therapist position as well as expand its program; therefore, allowing QuestKids to serve more low-income families.

Ronald McDonald House - $31,350
Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Central Florida finds, creates and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children and families. The cornerstone program, the Ronald McDonald House®, provides a home-away-from-home” that offers comfort and care to families with children receiving medical treatment at local hospitals and medical facilities in Orlando. Our “Share-A-Night” program was created to ensure that no family in need of the services provided by the Ronald McDonald House in Central Florida is ever turned away for an inability to pay. This program provides the resources necessary for families who come to us in their time of need and allows parents to focus on the well being of their children.

Safe House of Seminole - $29,500
The SafeHouse SAFEKID Project provides early intervention and prevention education during all day and after school children’s programs for children of domestic violence victims living in the emergency crisis shelter. As partners, the $29,500 OMYF grant allows SafeHouse advocates to provide these children with the tools they need to make healthy choices in their lives, so they realize they are not alone and not to blame for the violence. They can develop into well adjusted adults and thereby breaking the cycle of violence. Our children are truly the solution toward ending domestic violence.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida - $15,000
The funds received from the OMYF will enable the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to provide meals for 104 children for an entire year. These meals are provided in areas of high poverty through our Kids Cafes in Central Florida. Children are offered a safe and constructive environment for after-school care along with a nutritious meal. Food is the basic building block for these future teachers, policemen, doctors, nurses, firefighters and leaders.

South Brevard Women’s Center - $2,500
The South Brevard Women’s Center strives to address the needs of women by giving them a step up towards safe, healthy, and self-sufficient lives. The mission of the Women’s Center is to empower women and their families by providing counseling, support, education, information, and services. The Women’s Center’s supportive services include transitional housing for women and children, case management, career guidance, job training, and victim’s advocacy.