Sunday's Child

Sunday's Child is a collective giving organization that promotes equality and inclusion across the Pensacola Bay Area by awarding grants for significant charitable and economic initiatives. Ten friends formed the group in the fall of 2013, modeling it on Pensacola's Impact100 women's giving circle, with a vision of a fully accepting Pensacola that embraces LGBTQ+ residents and their contributions. Since then, members have awarded grants to local charities in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

The model is simple: members give each year, the gifts are pooled, and every membership carries a vote. Nonprofits submit a letter of intent, focus-area committees review applications and select finalists, and members choose the winners at the Annual Meeting each October. Grants fund new programs or expansions in health and wellness, arts and heritage, education, the environment and animals, and direct services. Every grantee must have a non-discrimination policy that covers sexual orientation and gender identity, and the process has led applicants to adopt inclusive policies, add gender-neutral restrooms and expand transgender health coverage.

Recent grants have supported an LGBTQ+ equine wellness program at Life Horse, an accessibility lift for 309 Punk Project, a Stamped LGBTQ Film Festival documentary on the Emma Jones Society, and a van for First Tee Gulf Coast.

Membership is open to anyone 18 or older, individually or as a group of two or three, with an introductory option for newcomers and a scholarship fund that covers dues for people facing hardship. Membership dues go entirely to grants.