A partnership built on compassion, commitment and community reached a milestone this week as A Kid’s Place announced a final gift of $300,000 from the Lazydays Employee Foundation, bringing the employees’ total support over 16 years to an extraordinary $1.4 million.
A Kid’s Place, which opened in 2009 as a unique residential foster care community designed to keep siblings together, has been supported by Lazydays since the project’s earliest days. Even before the first home was built, employees of Lazydays RV pledged to sponsor one of the five houses on the new campus. Through voluntary payroll deductions and internal fundraisers, they raised $350,000 to build the Lazydays House, a warm, family-style home that has since sheltered hundreds of brothers and sisters during some of the hardest moments of their young lives.
In November, A Kid’s Place leaders gathered with members of the Lazydays Employee Foundation to accept the foundation’s final donation — funds that will help complete a new activity center where children will be able to play, learn, gather and heal together. The gift, staff said, will ensure the space becomes a joyful centerpiece on the nonprofit’s 5-acre, cul-de-sac-style campus.
In addition to their financial support, Lazydays employees delivered snacks, essentials and gifts for the children — another example of the handson generosity that has defined the partnership.
During the presentation, Dana Philp, inaugural president of the Lazydays Employee Foundation, shared a quote from Lazydays RV co-founder Don Wallace that captured the emotion of the moment: “To make a rope, it takes a lot of individual strings.”
Though Wallace could not attend, his words reflected the spirit of a foundation built entirely by employees — run by volunteers, funded by staff payroll deductions and fueled by a shared desire to change children’s lives. Since forming their nonprofit in 2005, Lazydays employees have worked to ensure every dollar raised goes directly toward helping at-risk youth.
Since opening, A Kid’s Place has cared for more than 150 abused, neglected and underprivileged children. It remains the only facility in Hillsborough County designed to keep siblings together, with each home staffed by live-in house parents who provide stability and love during an otherwise traumatic time.
As A Kid’s Place prepares to open its new activity center, the organization said this final gift from the Lazydays Employee Foundation is more than a donation — it is a legacy.
For more information about A Kid’s Place, visit https://akidsplacetb.org/.
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