The Lucky Duck Foundation appreciates being connected with local non-profit professionals, philanthropists, business leaders, and other organizations to promote the advancement of philanthropic efforts, community collaboration, and the sharing of resources and strategies to improve our collective impact on the community.
The Lucky Duck Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that raises money to fund and activate high-impact programs aimed at alleviating the suffering of homelessness throughout San Diego County.
The Lucky Duck Foundation organizes, funds and drives a wide range of programs, including over 15 employment and job training programs; bridge shelters to provide shelter for well over 400 individuals nightly; a “Cash for Trash” program that enables homeless individuals to earn $2 for every bag of trash cleaned up (after its first 34 days, more than 44 tons of trash were picked up); a food & water outreach program that reaches nearly 1,000 people daily and has eclipsed 1.5 million meals distributed in just over 2 and a half years; and the distribution of more than 5,000 winter coats that transform into sleeping bags.
Earlier this year the Lucky Duck Foundation launched its second $1 million investment in region-wide employment and job training opportunities for individuals experiencing homelessness. This iteration includes a laptop for every graduate and employment opportunities in tech, tech support, and warehouse operations. One employment program hires Salvation Army shelter residents and trains them to be food rescue route drivers by operating routes provided by Feeding San Diego. In June of 2022, this three-pronged collaborative effort reached a milestone: more than 500,000 lbs. of food have been rescued, and all graduates have secured full-time employment and are still housed.
The Lucky Duck Foundation successfully partnered with the County and City of San Diego on a new initiative to create and open a new bridge shelter in the Midway District that provides up to 150 shelter beds for those suffering from behavior and mental health illness. The Lucky Duck Foundation donated the use of its bridge shelter and covered costs to construct it and the shelter was opened in September.
Additionally, the first week of November, the Lucky Duck Foundation’s food & water program eclipsed 1,500,000 meals distributed to individuals suffering from homelessness or on the brink – all in less than two years. The program is largely driven by volunteers and maximizes its reach and impact by leveraging partnerships with many local outreach organizations.
Giving Tuesday is a prominent upcoming campaign in which the Lucky Duck Foundation will continue to raise money to provide Empowerment Plan sleeping bag coats to unsheltered homeless San Diegans. While we call on regional elected leaders to add more immediately available beds, the need to provide protection and warmth from the elements is critical. As such, the Lucky Duck Foundation has committed to distributing several thousand more Empowerment Plan sleeping bag coats during the fall and winter of 2022. This is in addition to distributing more than 5,000 coats since 2020. The first 100 coats were distributed on World Homeless Day (10/10) in partnership with the Empowerment Plan, who distributed 100 coats in 10 different cities on 10/10.
These weather-resistant coats are manufactured by homeless parents and transform into sleeping bags to provide reprieve and protection from the cold pavement. It is the least we can do while we encourage our elected leaders to add inclement weather shelter beds. Coats are distributed through our food and water initiative.
The Lucky Duck Foundation has committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion within and beyond our organization and the individuals we serve; and we practice this every day through our food & water outreach initiative and other programs.
Learn more at https://www.luckyduckfoundation.org/.