Just in time for back to school, the Suncoast Schools FederalCredit Union Foundation in Tampa, Fla. has awarded a $50,000 grantto a local school program that provides food, shoes and otherclothing, and school supplies for students in need.

The foundation, which has donated more than $9 million tovarious children's charities and awarded approximately $930,000 inscholarships since 1992, is sponsored entirely by the $5.4 billion,560,000-member SuncoastSchoolsFCUin Tampa, Fla.

The foundation's latest grant will support the Pasco CountySchools' Assist, Believe, Care (ABC) program, which assists about10,000 students in 76 schools.

“We believe the ABC program complements our mission of promotingthe education, health and emotional well-being of children in ourcommunities, said MaryTlachac,executive director of Suncoast Schools FCU Foundation.

“Our goal is to support the school district in their effort ofproviding basic necessities for children in need, so they can focuson their primary responsibilities of being a student and succeedingin school,” Tlachac said in the credit union's announcement.

The school program's organizers said the grant will make a vitaldifference for many families.

“Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union Foundation stands outamong our charitable partners for this caring gift that will go along way in helping our schools provide some of the necessitiesmany of our families can't afford for their children,” Pasco CountySuperintendent of Schools Kurt Browning said in theannouncement.