Donations to 13 charities net 28 cents per county employee

Written by Miami Today on May 20, 2026

A program that gives Miami-Dade County’s employees more charitable organizations eligible for contributions through payroll deductions collected a total of $12,714 during its first two years that concluded in December, a report from Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says.

The top recipient among the 13 charities was A Safe Haven for Newborns, which received $2,355 during the two-year period from the approximately 23,000 county employees.

Total giving under the program equates to about 28 cents per employee per year, divided among the 13 charities.

The county as of last May had tallied $6,026 in contributions through the program from the time the county commission made it a policy in November 2023 to broaden charities in the payroll deduction program beyond United Way Miami. The donations to the United Way are not included in that total.

The 2023 resolution by Commissioner Oliver Gilbert directed the mayor to include more charities eligible for employee contributions through payroll deductions, set up eligibility criteria for charities to be involved, establish the voluntary donation process, and create an outreach campaign to encourage annual donations.

A new report from the mayor’s office this month says employee outreach efforts took place at events including the Annual Wellness 5K and Family Fun Day at ZooMiami in October. In September, the county hosted a brainstorming session with all 13 charities to seek to boost donations, the mayor’s memo said.

At the program’s outset, the mayor recommended that eligibility for the program focus on charities that have services throughout the county and target their efforts to human services. The recommendation was that they be large enough to have annual operating budgets of at least $250,000.

The list of charities has remained the same since the program’s inception. They are 5000 Role Models of Excellence, which has collected $2,195; Chapman Partnership, $1,190; the Center for Haitian Studies, $1,749; Easter Seals of South Florida, $1,670; A Safe Haven for Newborns, $2,355; Jackson Health Foundation, $910; Jewish Community Services, $550; American Cancer Society, $937; Kristi House, $693; the Carrie Meek Foundation, $269; Live Like Bella Foundation, $161; and Guitars Over Guns, $35. Goodwill Industries of South Florida has received no donations.