United Way of Palm Beach County

NonProfit

Shortly after Frank Compiani became Chairman of the Board of United Way of Palm Beach County in 2020, the organization received the largest gift in its 91-year history – $10 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

It came at the same time many people were being impacted by the pandemic and found themselves reaching out, some for the first time, to area social service agencies for assistance.

“The gift was a game changer,” says Compiani, who has been involved with United Way for the last decade. “It allowed us to do things we otherwise would not have been able to.”

After a needs assessment, United Way of Palm Beach County determined that the funding would focus on two areas – hunger relief and veterans. Last year, they relaunched MISSION UNITED, a program that helps veterans and their families connect with support services such as assistance with housing, employment, education, healthcare, mental health counseling and legal assistance.

Then, on May 3, the Palm Beach County Commission approved $4.5 million under the American Rescue Plan Act, providing federal funding to aid with the expansion of hunger relief programs. “That, coupled with $4.5 million from Scott’s gift, will go a long way toward helping the estimated 181,000 food insecure individuals in Palm Beach County,” says Compiani.

“We are going to build out a food processing and storage facility in Lake Worth where the Palm Beach County Food Bank’s current facility is. This will allow for more nutritious food to be handled and distributed,” he says. “That food will then be distributed to smaller organizations on the ground working with individuals.”

The new facility will also include an improved volunteer center, space for additional programs such as senior food programs and other community services, space to process fresh produce, an area for food preparation and a commercial teaching kitchen to be used for job training programs, nutrition education classes and fundraising events with local chefs.

“To see this all come to fruition is my proudest accomplishment at this point,” says Compiani.

United Way of Palm Beach County, 477 S. Rosemary Ave., Ste. 230, West Palm Beach, 561-375-6600, unitedwaypbc.org

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