Palm Harbor Cares: Connecting a Community One Act of Kindness at a Time

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jenny Goad founded Palm Harbor Cares to provide immediate, meaningful support to local charities. The organization has raised funds and created youth-focused programs to get kids involved in philanthropy.

In 2020 during the pandemic, Jenny Goad needed a way to provide immediate, meaningful support to local charities. She assembled a team of women who she had known from various philanthropic experiences over the years, a few from the Junior League of Clearwater-Dunedin, some from faith-based community connections, and a few like-minded friends and colleagues — the kind of people who say, “Yes,” when called to serve.

The answer was establishing Palm Harbor Cares, whose mission is to support local nonprofits and build a better community. The organization wanted to identify its home base and be clear that its service area is northern Pinellas County.

Programming ranges from fundraising to volunteerism. The organization has raised over $180,000 in support of local nonprofits through a quarterly giving circle. There is a mentoring, resource-pooling, and training program called Nonprofits Connect, in addition to Children Who Care, which gives kids an avenue to support the community and commit to acts of kindness. Jenny sees Children Who Care as a natural extension of Palm Harbor Cares’ mission, saying, “Children are naturally born to be givers, and allowing them opportunities on their own level is necessary.”

The Children Who Care projects focus on fun activities and support local charities through a give-back component. Jenny says, “We invite kids to participate in any way they can. We match children’s energy and interests with the needs of local nonprofits.”

A few examples of activities that met needs in fun and interactive ways are:

• The Peanut Butter Tower: Kids built a tower of shelf-stable, protein-rich peanut butter jars to raise funds, collect more peanut butter, and spread awareness about food insecurity in Pinellas County. Contributing peanut butter wasn’t a requirement, but all kids in attendance helped to construct the tower.
• Aye, Aye, Matey: Children Who Care hosted a fun evening of pirate-themed activities, including swashbuckling, a treasure hunt, and an outdoor movie night, where they collected diapers and wipes for BabyCycle.
• Holiday Caroling: Kids delivered over 400 handmade holiday cards to Senior Pen Pals at assisted living facilities and memory care units.
• Bahama Buck’s collaboration: Children collected pasta, sauce, peanut butter, and jelly to donate to FEAST Food Pantry, and Bahama Buck’s, whose slogan is “The Original Shaved Ice Company,” gave 20% of daily sales to FEAST.

By building education, participation, and kindness into every event, Palm Harbor Cares hopes that the children’s mindset becomes “I can share, I should share.” Parent feedback has been affirming; they say they have enjoyed creating a culture of service and giving for their children. It’s no longer just one special event; children take those feelings back and incorporate service into their daily lives.

Unless there are safety concerns, children have few places where they can’t contribute in some way. Volunteerism and philanthropy help children understand civic responsibility, needs, and how to meet them. Jenny offers some advice for parents, saying, “We don’t teach children enough kindness; build it into your daily life. There is no magic age.”

The program constantly sees new kids attending events, creating an inclusive environment with opportunities to lead and grow. The longer kids participate, the more they evolve with the process. Older children can take leadership roles, plan events, and mentor the younger children.

Jenny says this whole experience has really affirmed for her that “we live in a wonderful place with people who want to help. People willing to say, ‘Yes, what do you need, and how can I help?’” When considering the future, Jenny says the organization will “continue to ask community partners what their needs are.” During the pandemic, the message from nonprofits was, “Don’t send bodies; send money,” which didn’t leave much opportunity for volunteering. Now, these organizations need volunteers again, allowing teenagers to contribute during events. Palm Harbor Cares is an organization that thrives on collaboration, citing Palm Harbor Parks and Recreation, YMCA, FEAST Food Pantry, Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce, Palm Harbor Library, SCORE Mentors, and EmpowHERment as its most consistent partners.

Children Who Care will continue focusing on finding a need, meeting it, and thinking of themselves as connectors. Caring, kindness, and a desire to serve is Palm Harbor Cares’ culture of caring.

PCF appreciates Jenny and the Palm Harbor Cares team for sharing their culture of caring with us. Palm Harbor Cares’ commitment to philanthropy and service is inspiring.