’Tis the season for giving, and The Campbell Foundation does exactly that. The Fort Lauderdale–based nonprofit gave a $5,000 “holiday hug” to 10 HIV service organizations in Florida, for a total of $50,000 in awards.

These unrestricted grants couldn’t come at a better time, as it has been a particularly rough year for many nonprofit services groups in Florida, which have had to deal with budget cuts and natural disasters.

“When people think about those with HIV/AIDS, they often think about their health-related concerns. However, many patients and their families require assistance in other areas such as housing, food, counseling and education,” said The Campbell Foundation’s executive director, Ken Rapkin, in a press release. “The funding that we provide to these organizations through our end-of-the-year ‘holiday hug’ program goes toward helping them fulfill their mission of providing such critical services.”

The 10 nonprofits receiving holiday hugs are:

  • H. Monroe in Key West 
  • AIDS Service Association of Pinellas in St. Petersburg
  • Broward House in Fort Lauderdale
  • Children’s Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Fort Lauderdale
  • FoundCare in West Palm Beach
  • Latinos Salud in Wilton Manors
  • McGregor Clinic in Fort Myers
  • Poverello Center in Wilton Manors 
  • SunServe in Wilton Manors
  • Tuesday’s Angels in Fort Lauderdale

“The Campbell Foundation’s Holiday Hug of $5,000 will provide a holiday food voucher to 200 clients this holiday season. The Campbell Foundation’s generosity means sustenance for the body and, knowing that others understand such basic loss, sustenance for the soul,” said Scott Pridgen, executive director of A.H. of Monroe County, which was hard hit by Hurricane Irma.

Established in 1995, The Campbell Foundation supports nontraditional laboratory-based research into the treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS. In 2017 alone, it awarded $315,000 in such grants and an additional $20,000 in emergency funds to AIDS groups in Houston affected by Hurricane Harvey. In total, the foundation has awarded more than $10.7 million.