By Kyle Coppola
United Way of Lake And Sumter Counties Awarded $50,000 Grant
LEESBURG — United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties announces a charitable gift of $50,000 from the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. Representatives from Suncoast presented UWLS leaders with a check on June 18 at Langley Health Services in Sumterville.
The funds will be used to expand UWLS’ Together for Health and Wellness program’s youth health initiative into Sumter County by supporting its partner agency, Langley Health Services. The majority will cover healthcare expenses for underinsured children (first through 12th grade) at LHS, including costs for medical, mental health, dental, vision, prescriptions, etc., such as copays, deductibles, and other uncovered expenses.
The remainder will fund a health fair during a Back to School Bash in Sumter County and administrative costs. The health fair will feature various health screenings, informational booths, interactive activities promoting health and wellness, and distribution of educational materials.
“UWLS is very grateful for this grant award because it will allow us an opportunity to address the healthcare needs of under-resourced children in Sumter County and promote health equity within the community,” said CEO Jessica Davis. “We aspire to improve the health outcomes and wellbeing so that all may thrive!”
Suncoast Credit Union, Florida’s largest credit union, founded the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation to promote the education, health, and emotional well-being of children in the community. Each time a Suncoast member uses their debit or credit card, the credit union donates two cents to the Foundation to fund local initiatives. Since its inception in 1990, the Foundation has raised and donated over $44 million.
“This donation to the United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties allows us to be active in building stronger and healthier communities so that we can all grow and thrive,” said Darlene Johnson, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Suncoast Credit Union. “I have witnessed firsthand the obstacles that the uninsured experience, and it can create devastating effects. This cause is important and meaningful to all of us and those children it will serve.”
United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties serves needs in the areas of economic mobility, education, and health in both counties and facilitates and delivers a number of direct services and programs. Additionally, UWLS provides grants or support that fund programs in over 20 partner agencies or nonprofits.
The United Way organization fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community. United Way is the world’s largest privately funded nonprofit, engaged in 1,000 communities across more than 37 countries and territories. For more information about United Way, please visit unitedway.org.
About Suncoast Credit Union: Suncoast Credit Union is the largest credit union in the state of Florida, the 8th largest in the United States based on membership, and the 10th largest based on its $18.2 billion in assets. Chartered in 1934 as Hillsborough County Teachers Credit Union, Suncoast Credit Union currently operates 78 full-service branches and serves more than 1.2 million members across Florida.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
