The Passionate President
Jack Hawkins leads the way for Bradenton Kiwanis Foundation
WORDS: Amy Bell
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Jack Hawkins is extremely
proud to serve as the
president of Bradenton
Kiwanis Foundation for 2018-
201 However this isnt his rst
rodeo. One of the Foundation’s
most experienced leaders,
Hawkins also served as president
in 2004 and 2012. “It is the third
time I have served in this role,”
Hawkins remarks. “As a lifetime
Bradenton resident, I am happy
to serve in this capacity.”
Hawkins has practiced law in
Bradenton since 1979. During his 40-year
career, he has handled general business,
construction, and commercial litigation
representing individuals, corporations,
contractors, institutional, and private
lenders. As a family law attorney for more
than 30 years, Hawkins has also worked
complicated and emotionally sensitive
divorce and child custody cases. Today,
he practices with Grimes Goebel Grimes
Hawkins Gladfelter Galvano, P.., a rm
in downtown Bradenton.
Even with a busy law practice, Hawkins
has always found time to give back to his
community. In addition to the Bradenton
Kiwanis Foundation, he has also been
involved with the Manatee Chamber of
Commerce, Manatee County Boys Club,
Manatee County Girls Club Foundation,
and Manatee County Girls Club/Just
for Girls.
A Strong Foundation
Bradenton Kiwanis is an organization of
volunteers dedicated to changing the
world, one child and one community at
a time. Bradenton Kiwanis Foundation, a
separate entity, provides annual nancial
support for Bradenton Kiwanis Club
charitable programs and projects. The
Foundation also provides funding to local
nonprots that serve young people in
need. “The Club and Foundation’s focus
is on the youth and under-privileged of the
community, especially near and around
the downtown area,” explains Hawkins.
Kiwanis Club of Bradenton was founded
in 1922. In an effort to spur tourism in
Bradenton, in 1936 the Club opened the
Bradenton Trailer Park - which grew to
become the world’s largest trailer park
by the 1950s and 1960s. The trailer
park generated as much as $500,000
or more each year, and these funds
allowed the Club to serve the community
in various ways.
Over the years, the Kiwanis Club has
offered significant funding for many
local organizations, including the Boys
Club on 9th Street, DeSoto Boys Club
across from Bayshore High School, The
Garden Club building at Lewis Park, and
Manatee Players/Manatee Performing
Arts Center. The Club also helped fund
the construction of Kiwanis Hall, the
purchase of the United Way building on
9th Street, a new pool for Snooty
the manatee, the purchase of
three acres of land for the Girls
Club building on 59th Street, and
many other signicant projects.
In 1997, the Club sold the trailer
park for $8.8 million. “Although the
Foundation had been in existence
since 1988, it was the money from
the sale of the park in 1997 which
really got the Foundation going,”
Hawkins says.
Since then, the Foundation
has grown to more than
$12 million in funds and has offered
$5.6 million in charitable contributions
to the community and $2.5 million in
college and scholarships to the youth
of Manatee County. “The Bradenton
Foundation is uniquely positioned to give
signicant grants for local capital projects
to non-prots gifts ranging from $50,000
to $500,000,” Hawkins explains.
Today, the Foundation’s mission is “to
be the leading incubator and enabler of
ne idea hich ill ae a ignicant
impact within Manatee County through
philanthropic investment and the service
of members.”
The Foundation has a proven track record
of long-term, sound stewardship. Kiwanis
Club and Foundation leaders carefully
manage and invest every contribution to
meet community philanthropic goals now
and into the future.
Hawkins hints that the Foundation has
some exciting developments on the
horizon. “We are in the process of
retooling our programs for charitable
giving cultivating charitable gifts and
bequests,” he says. “Stay tuned.”
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