MELBOURNE, FL – June 7, 2012 – Brevard Family Partnership, Brevard County’s lead child welfare agency recently received a $10,000.00 donation from the Meehan Family Foundation. The gift comes at a welcome time; the organization has seen another year of budget reductions, while also experiencing an increase in the number of children and families entering the child welfare system.
BFP has designated a portion of the donation to supporting its faith-based initiatives, including the Brevard Interfaith Coalition, a group of over 60 houses of worship made up of several, diverse denominations that work collectively to help reduce the incidences of child abuse within the community. The coalition teaches congregants how to identify potential signs of child abuse and the proper reporting procedures for suspected abuse, and encourages their members to become foster parents or non-relative caregivers to children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect.
“We’re very grateful to the Meehan Family Foundation for this generous gift,” said BFP’s CEO, Dr. Patricia Nellius. “As the foundation is known for supporting faith based groups and initiatives, we thought it was appropriate to designate some of those funds to our faith community who is a wonderful partner with us in the fight to prevent child abuse and to care for those who have suffered from it.”
The foundation was started by Daniel Meehan and his wife, Eileen, after the sale of a very successful storage company that Mr. Meehan acquired in 1978. Since its inception, the Meehan Family Foundation has donated money to help build schools, medical clinics and other facilities that provide care for the neediest population in 13 countries, including the Philippines, Mexico, Tanzania and Kenya. In all, it has given $13 million and 54 scholarships to organizations and individuals in the U.S. and abroad.
