Congratulations to the 2020 Community Impact Award Recipients
While 2020 posed countless challenges to the Kids for Kids Foundation, our beneficiaries, members, and donors, it also exposed the importance of recognizing our most dedicated supporters. The outstanding commitment of this year’s recipients inspired our end-of-year honors with our first-ever Community Impact Awards.
Community Impact Award
As of 2020, the Kids for Kids Foundation will present two (2) Community Impact Awards to deserving members of our Kids for Kids Committee and our Junior Committee. The members selected from each Committee will be chosen based on their activity throughout the year and their representation of our mission as outstanding philanthropic leaders within their communities. Visit our Committee Page and Junior Committee Page to meet all of our incredible members – and if you’d like to see your name or that of your child listed there too contact us at membership@kidsforkidsnyc.org for more info on how to join!
Meet our 2020 Community Impact Award Recipients
Paul Lombardozzi
Founder & Vice Chair of Events
At the start of the pandemic, the entire outlook on our 2020 Fundraising Year changed. As we typically host more than 10 major events to raise funds and awareness for our beneficiaries, we needed to explore new ways to engage with our donors and support our communities.
Paul Lombardozzi saw the devastating impact of Covid-19 in his local community of Mill Basin, Brooklyn, the surrounding neighborhoods, and local businesses. He immediately recruited several friends, business owners, and our Kids for Kids Team to launch our Feeding First Responders Initiative supporting healthcare workers, EMS, police officers, firefighters, even local sanitation departments, MTA bus depot staff, and postal workers!
Paul hit the road delivering more than 500 meals a day throughout the 5 Boroughs, Long Island, Staten Island, and areas in New Jersey! From mid-April through late-May, Paul helped provide over 20,000 meals to our heroes on the frontlines keeping us safe. At each stop, Paul served more than just meals, he made sure every person he interacted with understood how much they were appreciated, and how grateful we as community members and our Kids for Kids Family were to be able to support them during this crisis. Along the way, Paul’s leadership also inspired our Junior Committee Members to join in and several met him at their local hospitals to assist in serving meals and thanking these amazing individuals.
Seeing this growth of Kids for Kids on a local level and just how easily our mission spread to new areas, Paul used that momentum and expanded our reach from coast to coast this past Fall! Through personal relationships with like-minded individuals and organizations in other parts of the country, Paul had our mission and logo being seen everywhere from New York to California, Texas to Ohio, the Carolinas to Arizona, and more!
In Los Angeles, CA, a unique and exclusive line of hats were launched by Amuseboosh, whose products are coined as the “‘if-you-know-you-know’ style piece,” the “‘where’d-you-get-that’ for a good cause” fashion statements. Paul’s relationship with Jon Buscemi, Founder of Amuseboosh, afforded us this incredible opportunity for which we are beyond grateful! With more than $7K raised and hats still selling with no end in sight, we are extremely excited to see the new world of opportunities this experience has afforded Kids for Kids!
Kids for Kids was also supported nationally by Bourbon Charity and their vast base of bourbon lovers with the Cheers for Charity Fundraiser that ran from September through December. The generosity of the bourbon community raised well over $100K for us and our mission, another relationship brought to Kids for Kids through Paul Lombardozzi!
As Kids for Kids continues to grow, members like Paul are crucial to the success and mission of our foundation. We are honored to be able to work alongside Paul throughout the year planning our own events and continue to be inspired by his ability to make a positive impact on those around him.
Isabella LiMandri
Junior Committee Member – NYC Chapter
Having joined the Kids for Kids Junior Committee just three short years ago, Isabella LiMandri has already made a lasting impression on the Committee and the foundation as a whole.
Isabella was introduced to Kids for Kids through a good friend and classmate, Isabella Basso who was a key member in the growth of the Junior Committee, and together in 2019, these two young ladies brought our mission into their school. They created the Kids for Kids Club at their high school and recruited over 20 students to join – from there they hit the ground running thinking of creative ways to get involved in our support for children and families struggling with medical challenges! The Kids for Kids Club volunteered at our beneficiary hospital, St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children multiple times throughout the year that included them being part of their 2019 holiday celebrations and bringing their photography group to take portraits of the patients.
In 2020, while schools moved to virtual learning and our Junior Committee Members’ usual fundraisers like bake sales, math-a-thons, and sport or team-focused initiatives came to a halt, Isabella kept her club members focused on supporting St. Mary’s. They made countless cards for healthcare workers to thank them for their selfless dedication to the health and well being of their patients and share words of encouragement to stay strong! During the Kids for Kids Junior Committee Good Deeds in Quarantine Challenge, Isabella made meals with her mother and brother for the staff at St. Mary’s, as well as her elderly neighbors.
As a participant in our Global Running Day Challenge in June, Isabella LiMandri dedicated her run to all the people currently fighting Covid-19, and later in September, she participated in our Mile-a-Day Challenge to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital!
Isabella has shown such leadership, compassion, and hard work as a Junior Committee Member, we are honored to be part of these very important years of her life, helping expose her to the many ways she can make an impact in her community and the lives of others. We are excited to see what the future holds for her!
You can make an impact too!
At Kids for Kids, we take great pride in the opportunity to bring people of all ages and communities together! Whether at our events and fundraisers or within our Committees, every gathering is a chance we can share our mission with others and instill in them the passion to give back.
If you are interested in joining our Kids for Kids Committee or have a child in your life who might be interested in our Junior Committee, click the buttons below to complete our Membership Applications today!
Or to reach a team member to discuss opportunities with Kids for Kids, contact us at 212-365-5800 or at membership@kidsforkidsnyc.org.
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