Florida Businesses Can Be Part of the Solution to Reduce Childhood Poverty

By: Pamela Rauch

When my sons were born, one of the first things I did for each of them was to purchase Florida Prepaid college savings plans to help cover their future college costs. This gave us such peace of mind as young parents, that no matter what life had in store for us, our sons were going to have the financial opportunity to go to college. Fast forward to today, and our oldest used his plan at University of Florida and now attends law school at the University of Miami. Our youngest is going to the University of Kentucky for engineering and is using his plan there.

Through my work at FPL and the company’s involvement in the communities we serve, I understand that many children and their families cannot afford the opportunities I gave my sons. I also know that many of these same children have the potential to grow into some of our brightest and best future workers. They just need someone to open the door to a different path.

This is at the heart of why FPL has partnered for the past two years with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation to be a major donor for the Path to Prosperity initiative in collaboration with the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Through this initiative, the Florida Prepaid College Foundation matches donor contributions dollar-for-dollar — doubling the impact of the donor’s philanthropic efforts. For FPL, this meant our $2.1 million donation generated $4.2 million in scholarships, or 1,000 scholarships total.

Education inequity is one of the 10 root causes of generational poverty. The Path to Prosperity Scholarship Program aims to reduce childhood poverty in our state by providing a pathway to college for students. Scholarships are allocated to students in the 150 highest-poverty zip codes in Florida.

For FPL, we are grateful for the opportunity to help so many deserving children in our communities pursue a college education. It is part of our DNA to give back. We have been in Florida for nearly a century, and our employees over the last 15 years alone logged more than 800,000 volunteer hours.

We know these Path to Prosperity Scholarships will pay dividends for us as a company, supporting the residents we serve now and building our future workforce.

We know these Path to Prosperity Scholarships will pay dividends for us as a company, supporting the residents we serve now and building our future workforce.

The Florida Prepaid College Foundation and the Florida Chamber are almost halfway to their goal to invest over $20 million through the Path to Prosperity Scholarship Program.

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Now, we need more businesses to join us in this endeavor. We urge other businesses who want to support Florida’s growth and propel the state forward to consider being a Path to Prosperity Scholarship donor. Together we can make a difference, one scholarship at a time.

Pamela Rauch is the Vice President of External Affairs and Economic Development at Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), one of the nation’s leading electric utilities. Learn more about the Path to Prosperity Scholarship Program.