Boys & Girls Club recognizes Karen Pulte with Giving is Living Award
Boys & Girls Club of Collier County presented its 2023 Giving is Living Award to Karen Pulte, a Naples resident who has supported the club through philanthropy and volunteerism for more than a decade.
The Giving is Living Award recognizes an individual or family with a proven record of exceptional generosity. Recipients must demonstrate outstanding civic responsibility, charitable contributions and generosity while also encouraging others to take philanthropic leadership roles in our community.
“Karen has focused her philanthropy on economically and socially disadvantaged children and families – the same individuals we serve at Boys & Girls Club,” said Megan McCarthy Beauvais, President and CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Collier County. “She is single-handedly helping us achieve our mission of empowering all young people to reach their full potential, and certainly a deserving recipient of this year’s Giving is Living Award.”
Pulte is presenting sponsor for Boys & Girls Club’s annual FORE-the-Kids Golf Tournament and namesake of the Pulte Teen Center at the club’s Bolch Campus in Immokalee. She also serves on the advisory board for The Founders Scholarship Fund, which awards college scholarships to youth in Collier County.
Pulte is a global philanthropist, board member and director of the scholarship program for the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, which supports organizations across four areas of giving: care for others, education, hunger and thirst, and shelter. The foundation has supported more than 200 grantee organizations worldwide through donations exceeding $143 million, including a gift to the University of Notre Dame that established the Pulte Institute for Global Development. She and her late husband, master builder William J. Pulte, founded International Samaritan, a nonprofit formed to combat the ravages of garbage dump towns in other countries.
“Guided by the belief in the inherent dignity of all persons with a strong focus on socioeconomically disadvantaged youth, Karen stands tall for our club members year after year in the most dignified of ways,” said Boys & Girls Club Board Chairwoman Susan Bass Bolch. “Karen is a connector and talks about our Club and ‘Club kids’ to friends, family, really anyone who will listen to her. She believes in what we are doing and how our programs help change the lives of the kids who walk through our doors.”
About Boys & Girls Club of Collier County
Founded in 1997, Boys & Girls Club of Collier County mobilizes donors, staff and volunteers toward the achievement of a single mission: To empower all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. The nonprofit’s six core program areas include education, career development, character and leadership, health and wellness, the arts, and sports and recreation. Boys & Girls Club of Collier County annually serves more than 3,500 children and teens, ages 6 to 18, through clubs and after-school programs. Through the generosity of sponsors, donors and friends, Boys & Girls Club of Collier County provides a safe place for young people to learn, grow and develop ongoing relationships with adult mentors who support the education, emotional, physical and social development they need to become successful adults. For more information, please visit BGCCC.com or call 239-325-1700.
