Pro golfer donates millions to end childhood hunger in Central Florida

Pro golfer donates millions to end childhood hunger in Central Florida

Story via wftv.com

Justin and Kate Rose have raised and donated millions of dollars to go towards the fight to end child hunger.

The Kate and Justin Rose foundation recently donated $1 million to the Orlando chapter of an organization dedicated to keeping kids fed.

Thousands of young kids in Central Florida don’t get enough food on the weekends.

Justin and Kate Rose have raised and donated millions of dollars in the past to go towards the fight to end that problem.

“How can they come to school Monday morning? You’re not really going to get through to a kid who is malnourished…not able to concentrate and fully focus,” Rose said in a PGA tour video back in 2012.

He’d already been making the donations for three years by then, but recently he and his wife Kate committed to doing even more to end child hunger in Central Florida, making a $1 million dollar donation to the Orlando Chapter of Blessings in a Backpack.

The organization works with schools, giving kids food on Fridays, so they get the nutrition they need over the weekend.

“If you’ve got a kid with a hungry tummy, I don’t care how good the book is, I don’t care how great the teacher is, how exciting the experiences…that child is probably not going to do that well,” Kate Rose says. “If you’ve ever been in situations, hopefully rarely, but really genuinely hungry, and there is no food. It’s very hard to think of anything else.”

The Orlando Chapter of Blessings in a Backpack was actually started by the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation last May, just as the need was exploding because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The couple, originally from England, adopted Central Florida as their home and realized they could make a meaningful difference.

“We were already involved with Blessings in a Backpack, but then when we actually had our own children, and saw that immediate effect between food, no food, and the effect it has on behavior, you really kind of realize how essential food is as a first step,” Kate says.

Rose Blessings Orlando is currently serving more than 3,000 kids at 24 different schools throughout Orange, Seminole, and Osceola Counties. Their goal is to get to 16,000 by 2030.

If you would like to get involved with Blessings in a Backpack, just click here. Kate Rose says they always need volunteers to hand out food on Fridays.