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HEAT Social Responsibility: Foundation

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HEAT Charitable Fund Mission

Established in 1997, the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund strives to positively impact the lives of at-risk families in our South Florida community by supporting organizations focused on three primary areas: youth programs, education and health and wellness initiatives.

Program Duration: Year Round

Make A Gift To MIAMI HEAT Charitable Fund

By donating through this secure website, your support enables us to ensure that our efforts reaches more in the community to inspire the families and youth of South Florida.

1. To make a donation online, click the button below:

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or scan the QR Code Below:

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2. If you prefer to donate through the mail, please make payable to “Miami Foundation” and send your donations to the following address:

Miami HEAT Charitable Fund
601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33132

*Your privacy is important to us, we will not sell or share your personal information.

Miami HEAT Charitable Fund Main Beneficiaries

Baptist Health South Florida & Miami Cancer Institute

Mission: To inspire philanthropy and build extraordinary donor relationships in support of excellence, innovation, community wellness and global leadership in healthcare at Baptist Health South Florida, a not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to our faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence.

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Jackson Health Foundation Pricture

Jackson Health Foundation

Mission: To help fill the gaps of major capital projects and programmatic needs that cannot be financed by public bond support.

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SafeSpace Foundation

Mission: To advocate and empower domestic violence victims and survivors by providing emergency shelter, transitional housing and financial assistance.

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Dedication To Community

Mission: To educate and empower communities through skill-building workshops and ongoing forums designed to improve understanding and foster relationships while pursuing healing, reconciliation and unity. Its experts work with government agencies and the private sector by training and advising on critical issues in public safety and law enforcement, as well as diversity, belonging and equity.

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Up2Us Sports

Mission: To engage, train and support sports coaches to transform youth, programs and communities.

Home Strong

Established in 2006, Home Strong is an ongoing program that salutes and honors the courageous men and women in uniform for their dedication to the United States Armed Forces. Home Strong's mission is to give aid, support and recognition to any person who has been in harm's way in the military service. Pat Riley and the Miami HEAT created this initiative as a means of paying tribute to our soldiers and veterans. Currently, the program is working in partnership with Ultimate Software to provide further assistance with the unmet needs of military personnel and their families who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and reside in the South Florida area.

Beneficiaries include:

  • HEAT Home Strong Recognition Program: Hosts, honors and supports military personnel and their families who have served in combat and reside in the South Florida area.
  • Fisher House Foundation: Builds and maintains a “home away from home” at no charge for military families of patients receiving medical care at nearby VA medical centers.
  • Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade: The Miami HEAT works alongside members of the U.S. Armed Forces to help renovate homes of local veterans while funding the renovation.

Now, you can make a difference by clicking here and make a gift to our Home Strong Program. We truly appreciate your support!

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HEAT Family Festival Picture

Miami HEAT Family Festival

The Miami HEAT Family Festival presented by Carnival Foundation takes place in the spring of each season. The Annual Miami HEAT Family Festival is a themed, interactive, carnival-like celebration in which HEAT players, coaches, celebrities and about 1,500 fans and families come together to raise vital dollars for local charities. In addition to the fanfare at the event, top restaurants and chefs from South Florida create a memorable dining extravaganza.

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Miami HEAT Golf Classic

The Annual Miami HEAT Golf Classic has offered golfers an opportunity to tackle some of the most prominent golf courses around town, such as Don Shula's in Miami Lakes, the Trump National Doral Miami, the Miccosukee Golf & Country Club, the Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club and most recently, Biltmore Golf Course Miami. All net proceeds benefit the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund.

MIAMI HEAT Gala Picture

MIAMI HEAT Gala

Every spring the Miami HEAT players and coaches join Micky and Madeleine Arison and Pat and Chris Riley to raise funds during an exclusive gala. This unique event features a private dinner and live performances by musical artists. Past performers at this event have included Michael McDonald, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton, Earth, Wind & Fire, Mary J. Blige, Kool & The Gang, The Commodores, comedian Gary Owen, Dermot Kennedy and Rick Ross. The evening is also highlighted by a live auction featuring exclusive, one-of-a-kind experiences. Guests can mingle and dance along with HEAT players and coaches while also raising funds for the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund. With the support of loyal family and friends, the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund has been able to raise more than $11 million in total since the event's inception in 2006.

HEAT Home Court For Kids Wing At Holtz Children's Hospital

Holtz Children's Hospital at Jackson Memorial continues to provide state-of-the-art assistance to children in their pediatric intensive care unit made possible from the joint donation of Carnival Cruise Line and the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund. The redesigned facility currently lets parents play a more active role in their child's treatment and recovery. This ongoing partnership allows for more critically ill children to be treated in South Florida through cutting-edge medical care.

HEAT Player Ticket Program

One of the most generous and trendsetting programs in the NBA, the Miami HEAT's Player Ticket Program will spend the entire regular season reaching out to children who typically would only dream of watching a HEAT game live. HEAT players will join forces to donate tickets for every single home game to local charitable organizations and over the course of the 2019-20 season, more than 5,000 children, many for the first time, will have the opportunity to enjoy a HEAT game, courtesy of their favorite HEAT players and role models. Players also graciously provide several private "Meet & Greet" opportunities for the groups prior to each HEAT home game, where the players talk to children, sign autographs and take pictures.

HEAT Family Charity Group

The Miami HEAT Family Charity Group, established in conjunction with the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund, consists of members including wives of active HEAT coaches, players, select senior executive management as well as player mothers and family. The group works closely together with the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund to assist the South Florida community through activities including the organization of various fundraising efforts, the Annual SafeSpace Holiday Outreach initiative, the Domestic Violence Prevention Walk and other numerous hours of volunteer contributions.

Social Justice

In partnership with the Miami Police Department and Dedication to Community (D2C), the Miami HEAT will facilitate the specialized training of all of Miami's sworn police patrol officers with the goals of positively impacting interactions between law enforcement and our diverse, local community—particularly the Black community. In September of 2020, the partnership began with a pilot program, training a subset of Miami PD officers with the longer-term goal of providing training to all of the sworn patrol officers of the Miami PD force, with the eventual goal of training the remaining civilian employees as well.

Training of the entire complement of sworn police patrol officers began in January 2021. The goal is to build trust, provide the tools and actions that can be used as part of the “recipe for reconciliation” while addressing implicit bias and racism within society. This is the next step in the team's continuing effort to use their unique platform and standing in the community to deliver on our social justice pledge and effect positive change that uplifts the Black community.

A key component of the course emphasizes community interaction. To that end, in true Bonded by Ball fashion, Wilson, the official basketball of the NBA, has donated 1,000 basketballs to the HEAT, who will use the donation to equip each of the 900 officers of the force with a basketball to be carried in their vehicles and to be used for random pick-up games with South Florida youth.

Also, HEAT partner, Florida Blue, share our vision and commitment to enhancing the interactions between local law enforcement and the South Florida community they serve and will co-present this initiative.

Values of the Game Award

On Monday, April 25, 2022, Michael McCullough, Executive Vice President / Chief Marketing Officer and Steve Stowe, Vice President / Executive Director of the Miami HEAT Charitable Fund have received the “Values of the Game” Award, which recognizes an individual or individuals who inspire and connect people everywhere, but specifically in their community, through the power of basketball.

McCullough and Stowe won for their combined efforts in launching a first-of-its-kind partnership with the City of Miami Police Department and Dedication to Community (D2C) through a unique community policing program designed to help bridge the gap between Black and Brown city residents and local law enforcement.

MIAMI HEAT Values of the Game Award

Organizations By Cause That The Miami HEAT Charitable Foundation Has Contributed To

American Cancer Society: The American Cancer Society's mission is to save lives, celebrate lives, and lead the fight for a world without cancer.

Supporting Population: Community


Children's Cancer and Blood Foundation: The Children's Cancer and Blood Foundation (CCBF), through its support of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, has created a standard of excellence in the treatment of children with chronic, life-threatening blood disorders since 1952. Children and their families receive the most advanced, comprehensive care provided by a team of pediatric specialists in an atmosphere of compassion, hope, and wellness. Since our founding, CCBF funding has helped revolutionize the treatment of children suffering from cancers and childhood blood disorders.

Supporting Population: Youth


La Liga Contra El Cancer: To provide free treatment and rehabilitation services.

Supporting Population: Community

American Friends of Hebrew University: Founded in 1925, American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) is a national organization in support of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel's foremost center of higher education and research. Forging a meaningful partnership between American Jewry and the people of Israel, AFHU helps to ensure the nation's well-being by nurturing Israel's greatest asset: the intellectual strength of its people. AFHU's cultural and educational programs attract people from all walks of life. These programs, as well as AFHU Missions to Israel and Hebrew University, promote a greater understanding of the University's contributions in fields ranging from technology, medicine, and law to agriculture, public policy, and Jewish Studies.

Supporting Population: Jewish


Barry University: Barry University is a Catholic institution grounded in the liberal arts tradition, fostering a scholarly community committed to maintaining the highest academic standards in undergraduate, graduate, and professional education.

Supporting Population: Community


Big Pine Elementary: The school is an independent public school that is chartered by the Monroe County School District and provides education to students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Enrollment is open to pupils on a first-come / first-served basis.

Supporting Population: Youth


Breakthrough Miami: The mission of Breakthrough Miami is to inspire and encourage talented, motivated middle school students to enter and thrive in top college preparatory high school programs and graduate from college. The program is equally focused on promoting careers in education for the outstanding high school and college students who teach tutor, and mentor in breakthrough Miami's summer institute and school year program.

Supporting Population: Youth


Faith Works of the Inner City: designed to meet the educational, spiritual, and physical needs of inner city children and their families.

Supporting Population: Community


Gloria M Silverio Foundation: Promote public awareness, and set up helplines for pregnant mothers to protect an unborn child

Supporting Population: Girls/Women


La Progressiva Presbyterian School: To serve the needs of families by providing a safe and supportive environment in which school-age children can learn skills and develop positive self-concepts and moral values.

Supporting Population: Youth


Learning Experience: Provide education to children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Supporting Population: Youth


MB Education Foundation: A community driven fundraising organization, which supplements state funding for programs that inspire learning, enrich teaching, and promote innovation and academic excellence in the public schools of Manhattan Beach.

Supporting Population: Youth


The Beacon Council: The foundation operates exclusively for charitable and educational purposes as follows: (a) to compile, prepare, and publish statistical data concerning Miami-Dade county, Florida and make such data available to all segments of the community; (b) to lessen the burdens of government; (c) to combat community deterioration; and (d) to do all lawful acts incidental to the accomplishment of said charitable and educational purposes.

Supporting Population: Youth


UNCF: Build a robust and nationally-recognized pipeline of under-represented students who, because of UNCF support, become highly-qualified college graduates and ensure that our network of member institutions is a respected model of best practice in moving students to and through college.

Supporting Population: African American

Amigos Together for Kids: Amigos For Kids was founded in 1991 to create awareness and obtain support from the burgeoning Hispanic community in South Florida. Today, Amigos For Kids has evolved into a mainstream non-profit and its child abuse prevention message now reaches communities across the country - no matter their ethnicity or native language. Our mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect by valuing children, strengthening families, and educating communities.

Supporting Population: Hispanic


Lauren's Kids: Lauren's kids, inc.'s mission is to prevent sexual abuse through education and awareness and to help survivors heal with guidance and support.

Supporting Population: Community


SafeSpace Foundation: To promote the safety and well-being of family and partner violence through prevention intervention education and social change.

Supporting Population: Families


Voices for Children: Raises funds to meet the social, educational, and medical needs of Miami-Dade's abused, abandoned, and neglected children. Voices For Children exists to fill a big gap.

Supporting Population: Youth

Aqua Foundation for Women: The organization operates as a funding catalyst for the purpose to serve and support the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in South Florida through grants, scholarships, and initiatives.

Supporting Population: LGBTQ


Brian Grant Foundation: To provide proven tools to improve the well-being of people with Parkinson's

Supporting Population: Community


Irie Foundation: Irie Foundation seeks to empower South Florida's at-risk youth to lead productive lives through mentorship programs, cultural experiences, and scholarship opportunities. By following the young people, it serves from middle school through high school, the Foundation's ultimate goal is to inspire and encourage its students to graduate high school, pursue higher education and develop into successful adults.

Supporting Population: Youth


Odessa Chambliss Quality of Life Fund: Established to help nursing students achieve their goals and obtain their nursing degrees.

Supporting Population: Community


Player Philanthropy Fund: The Players Philanthropy Fund provides professional athletes, celebrities, and other high-profile philanthropists with a vehicle for collecting and distributing charitable assets in support of qualified causes through a simple, responsible, and cost-effective platform.

Supporting Population: Players


Ray of Hope Foundation: To uplift those in dire need through sharing personalized videos from the many luminaries and game-changers who share our thirst to make a difference.

Supporting Population: Community


Robin's House: To encourage and guide children and young adults to discover their highest potential through education, recreation, and community outreach.

Supporting Population: Youth


South Florida Progress Foundation: The Foundation's core mission is to use its relationship with South Florida professionals, entrepreneurs and civic leaders to identify top issues, set priorities, and then develop solutions through programmatic activity, all funded by member donations, endowments and grants.

Supporting Population: Youth


The Battier Take Charge Foundation: The advancement of education of children by providing educational opportunities to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue higher education

Supporting Population: Youth


We the Best Foundation: Dedicated to enriching the lives of the next generation – from childhood to adulthood.

Supporting Population: Youth

Athletes in Action: By serving, training, and sending athletes as influencers into the world, we are building spiritual movements everywhere through the platform of sport so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

Supporting Population: Youth


Dade Schools Athletic Foundation: To promote interscholastic sports in Dade County and conduct all other activities consistent with educational / charitable purposes to promote sports.

Supporting Population: Youth


South Florida After School All Stars: Help children and youth achieve their maximum potential and reduce school dropout levels and crime.

Supporting Population: Youth


Special Olympics: Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by promoting understanding, acceptance, and inclusion between people with and without intellectual disabilities (ID). Through sports, our athletes are seeing themselves for their abilities, not disabilities.

Supporting Population: Youth


YMCA of South Florida: Provide services and programs for women, teens, children, and families of Miami-Dade county.

Supporting Population: Youth

Baptist Health Foundation: To provide funds in the form of gifts, grants,& services to baptist health and other charitable organizations in furtherance of their scientific, literary, & educational purposes

Supporting Population: Community


Gleason Initiative Foundation: Help to provide individuals with neuromuscular diseases or injuries with leading-edge technology, equipment, and services. Raise public awareness toward amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by providing & documenting life adventures for individuals with muscular diseases or injuries

Supporting Population: Community


Jackson Health Foundation: To provide Jackson Health System, a Code Sec 170(b)(1)(A)(iii) organization, with the support and resources to excel as a world-class academic medical system.

Supporting Population: Community


Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Foundation: Joe Dimaggio Children's hospital foundation is dedicated to supporting Joe Dimaggio Children's Hospital (JDCH) and its mission to heal the body, mind and spirit of those they touch. During the fiscal year the foundation funded capital projects, various programs and provided support to patients and families.

Supporting Population: Youth


Make-A-Wish Foundation: Create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

Supporting Population: Youth


Our Kids of Miami-Dade: To oversee and lead a coordinated system of care, delivering excellence to abused, abandoned and neglected children and their families in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.

Supporting Population: Youth


Project Medishare for Haiti, Inc: The organization is dedicated to improving the health of the Haitian community by re-establishing the health infrastructure in several communities and facilities throughout Haiti.

Supporting Population: Haitian


The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, Inc.: Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, the Buoniconti family established The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in 1992, devoted to assisting The Miami Project to achieve its national and international goals. In 1985, Barth A. Green, MD, and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti helped found The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after Nick's son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game. Today, the Miami Project is the world's largest, most comprehensive spinal cord injury research center, housed in the Lois Pope LIFE Center, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The Miami Project's international team of more than 200 scientists and clinicians take innovative approaches to the challenge of spinal cord injury.

Supporting Population: Community

BBBS: Since 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been matching youth in meaningful, enduring, professionally supported mentoring relationships with adult volunteers who defend their potential and help them achieve their biggest possible futures. Big Brothers Big Sisters' evidence-based approach is designed to create positive youth outcomes, including educational success, avoidance of risky behaviors, higher aspirations, greater confidence, and improved relationships. In the past 10 years, with 270 affiliates in all 50 states, Big Brothers Big Sisters has served nearly 2 million children.

Supporting Population: Youth


Jason Taylor Foundation: Raise funds for children programs the foundation supports and creates programs that facilitate the personal growth and empowerment of South Florida's children

Supporting Population: Youth


Miami Children's Museum: The Memorial Foundation was established in 1981 to provide philanthropic support to the memorial healthcare system whose mission is to heal the body, mind, and spirit of those we touch. Every donation received helps to ensure that quality, cost-effective, patient-and-family focused health care is provided to all, regardless of ability to pay. During the fiscal year, the foundation funded capital projects, various programs and provided support to patients and families.

Supporting Population: Youth


Mourning Family Foundation: Mourning Family Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Alonzo and Tracy Mourning, provides a multitude of opportunities to enhance the lives of children and families in the south Florida community through advocacy, education, and enrichment services. Presently, the mourning family foundation supports over a thousand youth and families through the Overtown Youth Center and honey shine programs. These programs serve over 700 students ranging from ages 8 to 25 that reside in south Florida and attend schools in the area

Supporting Population: Youth


Udonis Haslem Children's Foundation: Help enable kids from all backgrounds and walks of life to build a better future through community and educational programs.

Supporting Population: Youth


Wade ‘s World Foundation: To initiate and support community-based programs that promote education, health, and social skills of children underprivileged and underserved.

Supporting Population: Youth


Women of Tomorrow: Inspires motivates and empowers young women to live up to their full potential through a unique mentoring program with highly accomplished professional women and scholarship opportunities.

Supporting Population: Girls/Women

Camillus House: Established by the little brothers of the good shepherd in 1960, Camillus house has grown steadily over the years from a small overnight shelter into a full-service center offering a full continuum of care for the poor and homeless. Committed to the teachings of Jesus Christ, Camillus house strives to provide Christian hospitality and respect for life through direct services of food, clothing, shelter, addiction counseling, and health care to the poor and homeless of South Florida. Camillus' house offers a second chance to the desperate, the lonely, and the one's society has left behind. We become their family, giving them the hope and support they need to begin the long, difficult transition to a new life and self-sufficiency.

Supporting Population: Community


Habitat for Humanity: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami (HFHGM) is a Christian ministry whose purpose is to build homes and communities in partnership with low-income families within greater Miami.

Supporting Population: Families

Center for Social Change: Provide support training and residential services for individuals with cognitive and developmental disabilities and related disorders including autism that optimize each individual's independence and capabilities

Supporting Population: Community


Foot Locker Foundation: The program aims to bridge gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity, especially those driven by racial inequity.

Supporting Population: Community


Healthy Mothers Babies: The Organization's mission is to improve birth outcomes and promote healthy families by providing access to care, education, and support to those facing the physical, emotional, economic, and social challenges of pregnancy and infant care.

Supporting Population: Girls/Women


International Rescue Committee: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic well-being, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities.

Supporting Population: Community


MBJCC: Committed to meeting the ever-changing needs of the entire Jewish Community, strengthening Jewish identity, and enriching the quality of Jewish life.

Supporting Population: Youth

City Theatre: City Theatre's mission is to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays of substance and ideas that engage and challenge diverse audiences.

Supporting Population: Community


Guitars Over Guns Organization: Guitars over guns organization, inc. (the organization) is a Florida- based non-profit organization of professional musicians that provides mentoring, music instruction, and performing opportunities to at-risk youth to reduce dropout rates and empower its participants. The organization helps young people living in negative and dangerous environments to discover the life-changing power of music through a structured program of music instruction and strong mentoring relationships with professional musicians.

Supporting Population: Youth


Playing for Change: Providing resources to musicians and their communities around the world.

Supporting Population: Youth


The Murray Dranoff Foundation: Cultural advancement of piano by holding special events

Supporting Population: Youth


Young Musicians Unite: Young musicians unite believes that every student in Miami-Dade county deserves access to music education regardless of their socio-economic background. We collaborate with schools to provide free music education which has been proven to inspire personal development, foster a sense of community and prepare our future leaders.

Supporting Population: Youth

Dan Marino Foundation: The Dan Marino Foundation was created in 1992 by Dan and Claire Marino, when their son, Michael, was diagnosed with autism. Today, 3.5 million Americans have autism. For 30 years, the Foundation has led innovation with the mission to "empower individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities." Embracing the potential of the people we serve, the Foundation has raised over $87 million to create and support unique and impactful initiatives including Nicklaus Children's Hospital Dan Marino Outpatient Center, Marino Autism Research Institute, Marino Adapted Aquatics, and Marino Campus post-secondary schools in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. Working to reduce over 80% unemployment for these individuals, the Foundation is creating award-winning technologies like VI|ready for job interviewing using avatars and EduExg offering online courses focused on social competency, independent living, financial literacy, and gainful employment.

Supporting Population: Community

Give Miami Day: Give Miami Day is one of the largest annual giving events in the nation. On this day, one can make a philanthropic impact by supporting our community's local nonprofits. Go to GiveMiamiDay.org year-round to learn about the incredible nonprofits that make Miami a better place.

Supporting Population: Community

Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade: Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade, inc. Is a nonprofit whose mission is repairing homes, revitalizing communities, and rebuilding lives. The organization raises funds from the private and public sectors to fund the rehabilitation services provided to qualified homeowners. The organization identifies homeowners who complete an application and are qualified by the criteria established, houses are assessed and work scope agreed upon. Once there is funding, the home repairs are completed by skilled and unskilled laborers and volunteers.

Supporting Population: Community