“Generosity, warmth and reassurance,” are the three pillars upon which The Leesfield Family Foundation has always stood. In 1990, when Chair Ira Leesfield with his wife and daughter, Cynthia and Jennifer Leesfield, launched The Foundation, those three words are ones they employed to describe their mission – to make a positive impact within their community.
Over three decades later and that mission has expanded ten-fold. Today The Leesfield Family Foundation sponsors numerous grants, scholarships and relief efforts within the family’s home base of South Florida and all over the world. The family has been recognized for their efforts and devotion to public service by local and national organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Florida Justice Association and The American Jewish Committee. The Leesfields are also proud to have spent the last 23 years working with and supporting the Clinton Foundation and to continue that work via the Clinton Global Initiative, which aims to identify and take action in areas such as climate resilience, health equity and inclusive economic recovery and growth.
Disaster Relief
Most recently, The Leesfield Family Foundation celebrated its continued support of World Central Kitchen and its efforts to get nutritious meals to families of refugees and troops in Ukraine. Two years after Russia first invaded Ukraine, The Leesfield Family Foundation has helped to feed millions of people whose lives and homes have been uprooted by the conflict.
The Leesfield Family Foundation is proud to continue supporting World Central Kitchen in its efforts to continue feeding families in war-torn Ukraine.
In reporting from The New York Times, it was estimated via radar satellite data that the two-year war has destroyed around 210,000 buildings across an 800-mile stretch from cities like Ukraine, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Kherson. The once full and operational buildings include over 900 hospitals, churches and schools that made up communities now desolate and shattered. The number of felled buildings, according to The Times’s analysis, is more than if every building in Manhattan was destroyed, four times over. The devastation to these cities, once bustling with children off to school and families sitting around a table for dinner, is wrenchingly evident. In addition to The Foundation’s support, the Leesfield family has also pledged to match every contribution it receives dollar-for-dollar to help World Central Kitchen continue its work feeding Ukrainians in need. For more information on how to contribute, please visit www.LeesfieldFamilyFoundation.org.
Ira and Cynthia Leesfield sit on the host committee for The Underline Sneaker Ball which will take place on Sept. 28, 2024.
Local Support
On the home front, The Leesfield Family Foundation continues its support of local organizations such as Live Like Bella, the Fatherhood Task Force, Lotus House, Amigos for Kids as well as many others. “We continue our long-term involvement … as part of our ongoing commitment to improve the quality of Florida life for children and families,” The Leesfield Foundation said in a statement describing almost four decades “of caring” within its South Florida community.
The Underline Sneaker Ball
In March 2023, Friends of The Underline elected Ira Leesfield onto its Board of Directors. In September, The Underline will host its Sneaker Ball, a concept that invites attendees to pair formal attire with a favored pair of tennis shoes, to promote its work on the Underline, a 10-mile linear park below the city’s Metrorail system, a portion of which is located across the street from the Leesfield & Partners office on South Dixie Highway. That land will be transformed into an urban park space and will be named on behalf of the family. Ira and Cynthia Leesfield sit on the host committee for the event which is set to take place on Sept. 28, 2024, at Brickell City Centre.
Attendees are encouraged to lace up their best, “fashion-forward” sneakers for the occasion. Tickets go for $500, each, with sponsorship packages ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. To register for the event, go to https://www.theunderline.org/sneakerball/.
Scholarship Opportunity
Dexter Butler was known in life for his kindness and dedication to mentoring his students at Key West High School. Via a scholarship, The Leesfield Family Foundation aims to keep that legacy going in his name.
Since it began in 1990, the Leesfield Family Foundation has been dedicated to women’s and children’s initiatives, disaster relief and scholarships. The education of The Foundation’s very own, Ira Leesfield, was achieved with the help of scholarships.
“Since I was raised in a culture of scholarships and financial assistance, the Leesfield Family Foundation is a natural outlet for my family to now express its thanks to the less fortunate and those in need,” Leesfield said on The Foundation’s website.
In The Foundation’s tradition of giving back, it is launching another scholarship this time in honor of the late Dexter Butler, a Key West High School teacher and coach who died in March 2024. The $2,500 athletic scholarship will be awarded to a student of exceptional academic standing and will afford Butler’s family the comfort of knowing their son’s legacy of supporting and guiding young students will not be forgotten.
Butler is described as being “full of life” and who seemed to love those around him with a kindness that left an “indelible impact.” Through this scholarship, Butler’s work to support and guide his students will continue.
Grant applications and scholarship requests for 2024 and 2025 are now being accepted. For more information, please visit www.LeesfieldFamilyFoundation.org or email Carmen Marrero at marrero@leesfield.com.
