ORLANDO, Fla. — The coronavirus pandemic has hit many businesses hard, including nonprofits that provide vital services to the community.
What You Need To Know
- One Heart for Women & Children facing increasing demand in services
- Founder says COVID-19 has forced her to get creative about fundraising
- COMPLETE COVERAGE: Spectrum News | CDC | Florida Department of Health
The founder of an Orlando food bank One Heart for Women and Children says her nonprofit is now feeding five times the amount of people it did before the pandemic started.
But while the demand is up, Stephanie Bowman says she’s had to cancel planned fundraisers that would’ve brought in crucial funding, forcing her to find other ways to raise money.
Bowman says One Heart has missed out on about $100,000 the nonprofit likely would’ve raised at in-person events every month since March. That’s forced her to get creative in pleas for donations from the community.
“(We’re) calling in to our partners and making some new relationships as well,” Bowman said. “People want to help.”
Bowman said one generous donor even paid for two months of meals.
“People want to help. Our community is going to help us pull through this,” said Bowman.
Bowman says One Heart is also offering families opportunities to get tested for COVID-19. You can visit www.oneheartforwomenandchildren.org for more details.
Sign up now for one of our newsletters that will show up in your inbox every weekday at 1 p.m. The newsletters highlight the most important stories of the day that you need to know for your area.