The entire community benefits when it includes educators from many different backgrounds. This fund helps address the need for diversity among educators.
This fund provides tuition assistance to local students who will pursue an education degree and return to Key West for their careers. In the first few years, the scholarship selection committee will be giving preference to Key West High School students of African-American and Afro-Caribbean heritage. The goal is to develop a community in which people of diverse backgrounds and experiences are in positions of authority that build relationships with children of all races and end racial stereotypes.
The fund is named after a lifelong Key West resident and 50-year educator in the local school district, Phyllis Allen. She devoted her life to education and helping and inspiring others. She was a student, teacher, tutor, principal, deputy superintendent, community activist and fierce advocate for struggling students.
Phyllis passed away on April 1, 2017, after she had retired from her various roles within the school system. Phyllis often focused on struggling students, showing them support, kindness, stability, but still with a firm expectation that would help them succeed. “Phyllis was pure education, in the truest sense of the word,” says Andy Griffiths, long-time Monroe County School board member. Phyllis was also a dedicated leader, teacher and minister at Trinity Wesleyan Methodist Church and one of the founders of the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys.
For questions about the Fund, please contact phyllis.allen.fund@gmail.com.
You may make an online donation on this page (click button at top). If you are making a donation by check, please send to the CFFK office, 300 Southard St., Suite 201, Key West, FL 33040. Note in the Memo field that this donation is for the Phyllis Allen Teacher Recruitment Fund.
You may also make gifts to this fund by stock, wire transfer, real estate, and more. Please click here for instructions.
If you are interested in leaving a legacy gift to the Phyllis Allen Teacher Recruitment Fund through your will or estate plan, please contact CFFK at 305/292-1502 or email here.
Thank you for your generosity.
The Community Foundation of the Florida Keys manages over 160 funds and endowments throughout the Keys and is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit (EIN #65-0648968). Since 1996, the Community Foundation has been helping individuals and families leave a legacy in the Keys by inspiring giving and by investing in people and solutions to benefit every resident from Key Largo to Key West. Over $32 million in grants have been made to student scholarships, arts and culture, beautification and preservation of the Keys, health and human services, hurricane relief, and youth programs. The Community Foundation, In Paradise For Good, celebrated its 25th year in 2021. CFFK is known for its signature “Unsung Heroes” event which honors nonprofit volunteers. For more information, call (305) 292-1502 or click here.
