Louis Capano Family Foundation Donates $100,000 to Best Buddies Delaware

WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Louis Capano Family Foundation (LCFF) has donated $100,000 to Best Buddies Delaware (BBDE), a nonprofit that offers One-to-One Friendship and Leadership Development programs, which positively impact nearly 9,700 individuals with and without disabilities in Delaware. BBDE was selected as the 2018 beneficiary for the annual Louis Capano Family Foundation Golf Outing on September 17, 2018.

"We're supporting BBDE this year because we were deeply moved by the organization's mission of inclusion, friendship and acceptance for all, and impressed by its proven track record of making a difference in the community," said LCFF President and Capano Management CEO Louis J. Capano III. "With our donation, we're supporting the many programs BBDE provides and the mentoring connections that can help change lives."

There are 17 chapters and 979 'buddy' participants across Delaware involved in various BBDE programs:

• One-to-One Friendships - BBDE builds friendships between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) through school and community friendship programs that provide socialization opportunities. Through the simple acts of making friends, BBDE is committed to eradicating the social isolation of people with disabilities through programs that engage and include youth and adults with disabilities and their peers.
• For youths with IDD, buddies are matched with a volunteer 'peer buddy' at their school who shares similar interests. Across the state, twelve high schools, seven middle schools and two colleges participate in the program.
• The Community Citizen program pairs adults with IDD in one-to-one friendships with other adults from their community.
• Leadership Development Programs - BBDE provides programs to educate and empower people with and without IDD to become leaders, public speakers and advocates.
• The Ambassadors program provides training and workshops and the opportunity to teach people with IDD the skills they need to successfully self-advocate.
• The Promoters program empowers youth to become advocates for people with IDD by organizing and participating in specific events throughout the school year that promote advocacy and bring awareness to the disability rights movement.

"The Capano Family Foundation investment not only means more with regard to expanding our programs to schools and communities across the state, but more opportunities to hold community and leadership events for adults with disabilities by expanding our Community Citizens program to businesses. And more toward our goal of having a supported employment program in the next few years where we match skilled and qualified individuals with IDD with businesses seeking enthusiastic and dedicated employees," said Tom Waite, Director of Programs and Operations at Best Buddies.

The Louis Capano Family Foundation was established as a public charitable organization in 2006 by Louis J. Capano Jr. and Louis J. Capano III to raise essential funding and awareness for the nonprofits of Delaware with a specific focus on children and families in need. The Foundation's signature fundraising event is the annual LCFF Golf Outing. To date, the tournament has donated over $1 million to local charities. In addition to that amount, the LCFF together with other Capano entities has to date given over $3 million to charity through donations, sponsorships, partnerships and grants. The 2019 Golf Outing will take place on Monday, September 16, 2019.

The Foundation is working to expand its support to pediatric health and poverty initiatives. "We constantly strive to have a positive impact on as many lives as possible," says Louis J. Capano III. "The continued growth of our Foundation increases our ability to provide support, and we're always looking for new ways to serve our community."

Learn more about the foundation and how you can get involved at http://www.lcapanofoundation.org.

Louis Capano Family Foundation Contact:
Stephanie Johnnie, Foundation Director
[email protected]

Best Buddies Delaware Contact:
Tom Waite, Director of Programs and Operations
[email protected]

SOURCE Louis Capano Family Foundation