Give4Marion, the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County's 33-hour giving campaign, runs Sept. 15 to 16, 2026. AI-generated illustration.
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2026-09-155 min readGive4Marion 2026: 33 Hours of Giving for Marion County Nonprofits Begins Sept. 15
This is a community news article published on 2026-09-15 covering local Marion County, Florida news. Give4Marion, the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County's 33-hour online giving campaign, runs from 10 a.m. Sept. 15 to 7 p.m. Sept. 16, 2026. Here is how it works and a closer look at six local nonprofits taking part: The Rock Program, Hands of Mercy Everywhere, Love INC of the Heart of Florida, the Public Education Foundation of Marion County, Lotus Marion and Kimberly's Center for Child Protection.
Updated 7 months ago
By Only In Ocala Staff
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Give4Marion, the annual 33-hour online giving campaign run by the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County, opens at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 and closes at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16. During that window, donors across Marion County and beyond give to dozens of local nonprofits through a single website, give4marion.org, with matching gifts and prize hours stacked on top to stretch every dollar.
The campaign's tagline is "Live Marion. Love Marion. Give4Marion!" and its stated purpose is to raise money and awareness for the local nonprofit community and improve the quality of life for everyone in Marion County, one passion at a time.
Give4Marion started in 2020, when the pandemic shut down the galas, golf tournaments and in-person fundraisers that Marion County nonprofits depend on. The Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County built an online giving day in their place, and it has returned every September since. The 2026 campaign is the seventh.
The mechanics are simple:
- Who can participate: Verified 501(c)(3) nonprofits that are headquartered in Marion County or provide services here. Each has its own profile page on give4marion.org with a story, suggested giving levels and, in many cases, a matching gift from a local sponsor.
- How to give: Donations are made online by credit or debit card. Donors can search by organization name, location or cause, and give to as many nonprofits as they like. Receipts are emailed immediately and gifts to eligible charities are tax-deductible.
- Early giving: Donations opened a week early, on September 8, but only gifts made during the 33-hour window count toward prize incentives.
- Prize hours: Throughout the campaign the Community Foundation awards prize money to nonprofits during designated hours in categories including most individual donors, most dollars raised and the furthest-away donation, measured by distance from the donor to the foundation. Chance drawings are also held. Winners are determined by digital timestamps on the platform, and the foundation audits the results.
- Where the money goes: All donations go directly to the nonprofits. The Community Foundation keeps no percentage. The giving platform charges a 2 percent campaign fee plus card processing of 2.5 percent and 30 cents per gift, and donors can check a box to cover those fees so the nonprofit receives 100 percent.
- Celebration: The campaign wraps with a celebration party at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala on the evening of September 16.
The list of participating nonprofits runs into the dozens and covers animal welfare, the arts, education, housing, health care, veterans and more. The six profiled below are a cross-section, not a ranking, and each can be found by name on the Give4Marion search page.
The Rock Program was founded in 2016 by Ocala husband-and-wife team Ron "Rondo" and Toby Fernandez and operates under the nonprofit Empowered of Central Florida. Its name comes from its three pillars, refuge, foundation and purpose: students are safe, they have something solid to build on, and they have a calling worth pursuing.
The model is to meet students where they already are. The Rock places fully stocked resource rooms, called Rock Rooms, inside middle and high schools, staffed by community volunteers during the school day. Students can pick up food, clothing, shoes, school supplies and hygiene items without leaving campus. According to the organization's Give4Marion profile, The Rock now serves more than 16,000 middle and high school students through 33 Rock Rooms across Marion, Lake and Citrus counties. In 2025 it reported providing 1,973 food bags, 22,386 school supplies, 2,313 hygiene products and formal wear for 671 students attending prom, homecoming or graduation.
Empowered of Central Florida also runs Empowered Scholarships for graduating seniors, the Empowered Wrestling Club for Marion County kids ages 6 to 14, and a Lineman Academy. For Give4Marion 2026, Haj Home Rentals is matching donations up to $100 each from a $5,000 match pool until it runs out. Suggested giving levels on the profile range from $10 for a month of hygiene products to $1,000 for a student scholarship.
The Rock Program's mailing address is 2800 SE Maricamp Road, Ocala, FL 34471, and it can be reached at (352) 304-9288 or therockprogram.org.
Donate: Give to The Rock Program on Give4Marion
Hands of Mercy Everywhere, known as H.O.M.E. and listed on Give4Marion as Hands of Mercy Everywhere - LSF, is a campus of Christian residential group homes in Belleview for homeless young women ages 13 to 17. The girls it serves may be pregnant, parenting, working toward reunification with a child, or at risk of sex trafficking. H.O.M.E. is a program of Lutheran Services Florida.
Founder Diane Schofield opened the first home, Faith House, in 2004. Hope House followed in 2015 and Grace House in 2020, and in June 2024 the organization opened its Lakeside Education and Hospitality Vocational Center to prepare residents for the workforce before they transition to adulthood. H.O.M.E. has been licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families since 2006 and holds national accreditation from CARF International, received in 2019, and the Council on Accreditation, received in 2024. Schofield received a DCF Lifetime Achievement Award in September 2024 for her work in child welfare. Natasha Craggs joined the management team as Executive Program Director in 2026.
Beyond housing, residents receive daily life-skills education, educational testing and tutoring, mental health services, parenting classes, Trust-Based Relational Intervention, daycare, family visitation and transportation. For Give4Marion 2026, Craggs Construction Company is matching donations dollar for dollar from a $1,000 match pool. Suggested gifts on the profile include $50 for gas to medical and mental health appointments, $100 for a personal-care kit and $250 for baby needs such as car seats and strollers.
H.O.M.E.'s Belleview office is at 6017 SE Robinson Road, Belleview, FL 34420. More at handsofmercyeverywhere.org.
Donate: Give to Hands of Mercy Everywhere on Give4Marion
Love INC, short for Love In the Name of Christ, is a national network of church-based clearinghouses. The local affiliate, Love INC of the Heart of Florida, is based in Summerfield, in southern Marion County, and serves people who live or worship in Belleview, Summerfield, Weirsdale, Lady Lake, Fruitland Park, Oxford, The Villages and Wildwood, covering the southern end of Marion County and the neighboring communities across the Sumter and Lake county lines.
The model pools the resources of more than 45 partner churches across denominations. A request for help comes into the Connection Center, where staff listen, verify the need and connect the person to the right resource: a Gap Ministry inside a partner church for food, furniture, transportation or household essentials; Journey INC for long-term mentoring and life-skills support; or a community agency. The clearinghouse line is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at (352) 245-8774. The organization also runs a Clothe-A-Kid initiative and the Two Centsible Clothing Boutique at 11769 SE US Highway 441 in Belleview.
Love INC's Give4Marion 2026 campaign is called "A Truckload of Love." The organization, which marks 20 years of service, is raising money to support the Connection Center and to buy a box truck so it can deliver donated beds, furniture and household goods to families. Its suggested giving levels are framed around that goal, from $20 in gas for a family's trip to a doctor or a new job to $500, which it says delivers furniture or essentials to ten families. More at loveincflorida.org.
Donate: Give to Love INC of the Heart of Florida on Give4Marion
The Public Education Foundation of Marion County, or PEFMC, is the nonprofit direct-support organization for Marion County Public Schools. Its mission is to financially and materially support the district, its students and its teachers, a reach the foundation puts at nearly 47,000 students and more than 6,500 employees across 54 schools. Executive Director Meghan Magamoll leads the organization from the Thelma Parker Center at 1239 NW 4th Street in Ocala.
PEFMC's best-known program is Tools 4 Teaching, a free store inside the foundation's office where full-time Marion County Public Schools teachers can shop once a month for classroom supplies, from pencils and paper to art materials and hygiene products. The foundation's other signature programs include Grants for Great Ideas, which funds innovative classroom and school-wide projects; Teacher 2 Be scholarships for district employees pursuing bachelor's degrees in education; the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program and Golden Apple Academy; a monthly Thank a Teacher program with HCA Florida hospitals; Take Stock in Children, which pairs low-income students with mentors and college scholarships; college and career success coaching; senior scholarships; and mental health, wellness and safe-school initiatives.
For Give4Marion 2026, PEFMC's suggested gifts map directly to those programs: $100 restocks classroom supplies, $500 funds one semester of a Teacher 2 Be scholarship, $1,000 supports a Grants for Great Ideas project and $4,000 helps fund a Take Stock in Children scholarship. The foundation can be reached at (352) 671-4167 or pefmc.org.
Donate: Give to the Public Education Foundation of Marion County on Give4Marion
Lotus Marion is the newest organization on this list and the one with the biggest matching pool this year. It is a private nonprofit that provides free, confidential, 24/7 services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Marion County.
The organization was founded in 2023 as the Marion County Sexual Assault Center after Creative Services, Inc., the local nonprofit that had served domestic violence and sexual assault victims for nearly 50 years, closed and left the county without a certified provider. On July 1, 2026, the center became Marion County's dual-certified center for both sexual assault and domestic violence services and adopted the name Lotus Marion.
Services include a 24-hour crisis helpline at (352) 633-5563, crisis counseling with trained advocates, emergency shelter and safety planning, legal advocacy and accompaniment, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exams, support groups, housing stability assistance, and education and prevention programs. Its office is at 717 SW Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471, and the main line is (352) 484-1002.
For Give4Marion 2026, Stone Petroleum has pledged a $25,000 matching gift and the Carlyle and Shirley Ausley Foundation a $5,000 match, so donations to Lotus Marion are doubled while those pools last. Suggested gifts on the profile include $25 toward a survivor's transportation, $250 for a week of shelter and $500 in housing assistance to keep a temporary crisis from becoming homelessness. More at lotusmarion.org.
Donate: Give to Lotus Marion on Give4Marion
Kimberly's Center for Child Protection, also known as the Marion County Children's Advocacy Center, has served abused and neglected children since 1996. It was established by a task force of law enforcement, prosecutors and child protection leaders, originally as Kimberly's Cottage, and named in memory of Kimberly Boyd, who died in a car accident in 1994. It received its 501(c)(3) status in 1999.
The center uses the nationally recognized Children's Advocacy Center model, bringing forensic interviews, medical evaluations, trauma therapy, victim advocacy and prevention education under one roof so a child does not have to retell their story to agency after agency. Each year it serves about 1,400 Marion County children related to allegations of abuse and neglect, working alongside the Marion County Sheriff's Office, Ocala Police Department, the Department of Children and Families, the State Attorney's Office and the University of Florida Child Protection Team. It is accredited by the National Children's Alliance and governed by a volunteer board of directors.
The center's Give4Marion 2026 campaign is focused on one growing threat: online exploitation of children and teens. Funds raised will support the local Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Collaborative, a partnership between Kimberly's Center, the Sheriff's Office and Ocala Police that covers training for law enforcement, DCF staff and caregivers, community education, victim services including trauma counseling and safety planning, and technology upgrades for investigating technology-facilitated abuse. Suggested gifts range from $25 for an individual child safety planning session to $1,000 toward specialized training for law enforcement and DCF.
Kimberly's Center is at 2800 NE 14th Street, Ocala, FL 34470, and can be reached at (352) 873-4739 or kimberlyscenter.org. Suspected abuse should be reported to the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE.
Donate: Give to Kimberly's Center for Child Protection on Give4Marion
Give4Marion runs from 10 a.m. Tuesday, September 15 through 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Donors can visit give4marion.org, search for an organization by name or cause, and give by credit or debit card. Giving during a nonprofit's match window doubles the gift, and checking the box to cover processing fees sends the full amount to the organization.
Direct donation pages for the six nonprofits profiled above:
- The Rock Program
- Hands of Mercy Everywhere - LSF
- Love INC of the Heart of Florida
- Public Education Foundation of Marion County
- Lotus Marion
- Kimberly's Center for Child Protection
The six nonprofits above are a starting point. Only In Ocala's guide to nonprofits and charities in Ocala covers many more organizations serving Ocala and Marion County year-round.
The campaign's tagline is "Live Marion. Love Marion. Give4Marion!" and its stated purpose is to raise money and awareness for the local nonprofit community and improve the quality of life for everyone in Marion County, one passion at a time.
What Give4Marion Is and How It Works
Give4Marion started in 2020, when the pandemic shut down the galas, golf tournaments and in-person fundraisers that Marion County nonprofits depend on. The Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County built an online giving day in their place, and it has returned every September since. The 2026 campaign is the seventh.
The mechanics are simple:
- Who can participate: Verified 501(c)(3) nonprofits that are headquartered in Marion County or provide services here. Each has its own profile page on give4marion.org with a story, suggested giving levels and, in many cases, a matching gift from a local sponsor.
- How to give: Donations are made online by credit or debit card. Donors can search by organization name, location or cause, and give to as many nonprofits as they like. Receipts are emailed immediately and gifts to eligible charities are tax-deductible.
- Early giving: Donations opened a week early, on September 8, but only gifts made during the 33-hour window count toward prize incentives.
- Prize hours: Throughout the campaign the Community Foundation awards prize money to nonprofits during designated hours in categories including most individual donors, most dollars raised and the furthest-away donation, measured by distance from the donor to the foundation. Chance drawings are also held. Winners are determined by digital timestamps on the platform, and the foundation audits the results.
- Where the money goes: All donations go directly to the nonprofits. The Community Foundation keeps no percentage. The giving platform charges a 2 percent campaign fee plus card processing of 2.5 percent and 30 cents per gift, and donors can check a box to cover those fees so the nonprofit receives 100 percent.
- Celebration: The campaign wraps with a celebration party at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala on the evening of September 16.
The list of participating nonprofits runs into the dozens and covers animal welfare, the arts, education, housing, health care, veterans and more. The six profiled below are a cross-section, not a ranking, and each can be found by name on the Give4Marion search page.
The Rock Program
The Rock Program was founded in 2016 by Ocala husband-and-wife team Ron "Rondo" and Toby Fernandez and operates under the nonprofit Empowered of Central Florida. Its name comes from its three pillars, refuge, foundation and purpose: students are safe, they have something solid to build on, and they have a calling worth pursuing.
The model is to meet students where they already are. The Rock places fully stocked resource rooms, called Rock Rooms, inside middle and high schools, staffed by community volunteers during the school day. Students can pick up food, clothing, shoes, school supplies and hygiene items without leaving campus. According to the organization's Give4Marion profile, The Rock now serves more than 16,000 middle and high school students through 33 Rock Rooms across Marion, Lake and Citrus counties. In 2025 it reported providing 1,973 food bags, 22,386 school supplies, 2,313 hygiene products and formal wear for 671 students attending prom, homecoming or graduation.
Empowered of Central Florida also runs Empowered Scholarships for graduating seniors, the Empowered Wrestling Club for Marion County kids ages 6 to 14, and a Lineman Academy. For Give4Marion 2026, Haj Home Rentals is matching donations up to $100 each from a $5,000 match pool until it runs out. Suggested giving levels on the profile range from $10 for a month of hygiene products to $1,000 for a student scholarship.
The Rock Program's mailing address is 2800 SE Maricamp Road, Ocala, FL 34471, and it can be reached at (352) 304-9288 or therockprogram.org.
Donate: Give to The Rock Program on Give4Marion
Hands of Mercy Everywhere
Hands of Mercy Everywhere, known as H.O.M.E. and listed on Give4Marion as Hands of Mercy Everywhere - LSF, is a campus of Christian residential group homes in Belleview for homeless young women ages 13 to 17. The girls it serves may be pregnant, parenting, working toward reunification with a child, or at risk of sex trafficking. H.O.M.E. is a program of Lutheran Services Florida.
Founder Diane Schofield opened the first home, Faith House, in 2004. Hope House followed in 2015 and Grace House in 2020, and in June 2024 the organization opened its Lakeside Education and Hospitality Vocational Center to prepare residents for the workforce before they transition to adulthood. H.O.M.E. has been licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families since 2006 and holds national accreditation from CARF International, received in 2019, and the Council on Accreditation, received in 2024. Schofield received a DCF Lifetime Achievement Award in September 2024 for her work in child welfare. Natasha Craggs joined the management team as Executive Program Director in 2026.
Beyond housing, residents receive daily life-skills education, educational testing and tutoring, mental health services, parenting classes, Trust-Based Relational Intervention, daycare, family visitation and transportation. For Give4Marion 2026, Craggs Construction Company is matching donations dollar for dollar from a $1,000 match pool. Suggested gifts on the profile include $50 for gas to medical and mental health appointments, $100 for a personal-care kit and $250 for baby needs such as car seats and strollers.
H.O.M.E.'s Belleview office is at 6017 SE Robinson Road, Belleview, FL 34420. More at handsofmercyeverywhere.org.
Donate: Give to Hands of Mercy Everywhere on Give4Marion
Love INC of the Heart of Florida
Love INC, short for Love In the Name of Christ, is a national network of church-based clearinghouses. The local affiliate, Love INC of the Heart of Florida, is based in Summerfield, in southern Marion County, and serves people who live or worship in Belleview, Summerfield, Weirsdale, Lady Lake, Fruitland Park, Oxford, The Villages and Wildwood, covering the southern end of Marion County and the neighboring communities across the Sumter and Lake county lines.
The model pools the resources of more than 45 partner churches across denominations. A request for help comes into the Connection Center, where staff listen, verify the need and connect the person to the right resource: a Gap Ministry inside a partner church for food, furniture, transportation or household essentials; Journey INC for long-term mentoring and life-skills support; or a community agency. The clearinghouse line is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at (352) 245-8774. The organization also runs a Clothe-A-Kid initiative and the Two Centsible Clothing Boutique at 11769 SE US Highway 441 in Belleview.
Love INC's Give4Marion 2026 campaign is called "A Truckload of Love." The organization, which marks 20 years of service, is raising money to support the Connection Center and to buy a box truck so it can deliver donated beds, furniture and household goods to families. Its suggested giving levels are framed around that goal, from $20 in gas for a family's trip to a doctor or a new job to $500, which it says delivers furniture or essentials to ten families. More at loveincflorida.org.
Donate: Give to Love INC of the Heart of Florida on Give4Marion
Public Education Foundation of Marion County
The Public Education Foundation of Marion County, or PEFMC, is the nonprofit direct-support organization for Marion County Public Schools. Its mission is to financially and materially support the district, its students and its teachers, a reach the foundation puts at nearly 47,000 students and more than 6,500 employees across 54 schools. Executive Director Meghan Magamoll leads the organization from the Thelma Parker Center at 1239 NW 4th Street in Ocala.
PEFMC's best-known program is Tools 4 Teaching, a free store inside the foundation's office where full-time Marion County Public Schools teachers can shop once a month for classroom supplies, from pencils and paper to art materials and hygiene products. The foundation's other signature programs include Grants for Great Ideas, which funds innovative classroom and school-wide projects; Teacher 2 Be scholarships for district employees pursuing bachelor's degrees in education; the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program and Golden Apple Academy; a monthly Thank a Teacher program with HCA Florida hospitals; Take Stock in Children, which pairs low-income students with mentors and college scholarships; college and career success coaching; senior scholarships; and mental health, wellness and safe-school initiatives.
For Give4Marion 2026, PEFMC's suggested gifts map directly to those programs: $100 restocks classroom supplies, $500 funds one semester of a Teacher 2 Be scholarship, $1,000 supports a Grants for Great Ideas project and $4,000 helps fund a Take Stock in Children scholarship. The foundation can be reached at (352) 671-4167 or pefmc.org.
Donate: Give to the Public Education Foundation of Marion County on Give4Marion
Lotus Marion
Lotus Marion is the newest organization on this list and the one with the biggest matching pool this year. It is a private nonprofit that provides free, confidential, 24/7 services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Marion County.
The organization was founded in 2023 as the Marion County Sexual Assault Center after Creative Services, Inc., the local nonprofit that had served domestic violence and sexual assault victims for nearly 50 years, closed and left the county without a certified provider. On July 1, 2026, the center became Marion County's dual-certified center for both sexual assault and domestic violence services and adopted the name Lotus Marion.
Services include a 24-hour crisis helpline at (352) 633-5563, crisis counseling with trained advocates, emergency shelter and safety planning, legal advocacy and accompaniment, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exams, support groups, housing stability assistance, and education and prevention programs. Its office is at 717 SW Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471, and the main line is (352) 484-1002.
For Give4Marion 2026, Stone Petroleum has pledged a $25,000 matching gift and the Carlyle and Shirley Ausley Foundation a $5,000 match, so donations to Lotus Marion are doubled while those pools last. Suggested gifts on the profile include $25 toward a survivor's transportation, $250 for a week of shelter and $500 in housing assistance to keep a temporary crisis from becoming homelessness. More at lotusmarion.org.
Donate: Give to Lotus Marion on Give4Marion
Kimberly's Center for Child Protection
Kimberly's Center for Child Protection, also known as the Marion County Children's Advocacy Center, has served abused and neglected children since 1996. It was established by a task force of law enforcement, prosecutors and child protection leaders, originally as Kimberly's Cottage, and named in memory of Kimberly Boyd, who died in a car accident in 1994. It received its 501(c)(3) status in 1999.
The center uses the nationally recognized Children's Advocacy Center model, bringing forensic interviews, medical evaluations, trauma therapy, victim advocacy and prevention education under one roof so a child does not have to retell their story to agency after agency. Each year it serves about 1,400 Marion County children related to allegations of abuse and neglect, working alongside the Marion County Sheriff's Office, Ocala Police Department, the Department of Children and Families, the State Attorney's Office and the University of Florida Child Protection Team. It is accredited by the National Children's Alliance and governed by a volunteer board of directors.
The center's Give4Marion 2026 campaign is focused on one growing threat: online exploitation of children and teens. Funds raised will support the local Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Collaborative, a partnership between Kimberly's Center, the Sheriff's Office and Ocala Police that covers training for law enforcement, DCF staff and caregivers, community education, victim services including trauma counseling and safety planning, and technology upgrades for investigating technology-facilitated abuse. Suggested gifts range from $25 for an individual child safety planning session to $1,000 toward specialized training for law enforcement and DCF.
Kimberly's Center is at 2800 NE 14th Street, Ocala, FL 34470, and can be reached at (352) 873-4739 or kimberlyscenter.org. Suspected abuse should be reported to the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE.
Donate: Give to Kimberly's Center for Child Protection on Give4Marion
How to Take Part
Give4Marion runs from 10 a.m. Tuesday, September 15 through 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Donors can visit give4marion.org, search for an organization by name or cause, and give by credit or debit card. Giving during a nonprofit's match window doubles the gift, and checking the box to cover processing fees sends the full amount to the organization.
Direct donation pages for the six nonprofits profiled above:
- The Rock Program
- Hands of Mercy Everywhere - LSF
- Love INC of the Heart of Florida
- Public Education Foundation of Marion County
- Lotus Marion
- Kimberly's Center for Child Protection
The six nonprofits above are a starting point. Only In Ocala's guide to nonprofits and charities in Ocala covers many more organizations serving Ocala and Marion County year-round.
Give4Marion
Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County
nonprofits
charity
The Rock Program
Hands of Mercy Everywhere
Love INC
Public Education Foundation of Marion County
Lotus Marion
Kimberly's Center for Child Protection
Ocala
Belleview
Marion County
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