Key West fundraiser raises $50,000 to feed Monroe County children this summer

Key West singer and organizer Kim Gordon turned a night of music and costumes into $50,000 for children who lose school meals when summer break starts, putting food on the table for families from Key West through Big Pine Key.

Gordon, who founded Music with Heart, built the Feed Our Kids campaign around a hard local reality: nearly 400 children from low-income families depend on school breakfasts and lunches during the academic year, when they can count on two hot meals a day at school, free or deeply discounted depending on household income. Once classes end, that safety net disappears, and summer becomes the pressure point for Monroe County families already facing some of the highest living costs in the Keys.

The fundraising effort peaked in March with the Black and Red Masquerade Ball at Key West Theater, a concert and dance party that helped push the campaign to its $50,000 net goal. Gordon marked the event as her 20th musical fundraising night in Key West, underscoring how deeply she has tied local arts to community relief. The show featured her all-star band, including Grammy-winning saxophonist Tim Mayer, at the nonprofit theater that has become a familiar stage for civic and cultural benefits.

The money will go directly into weekly backpacks filled with seven nutritious dinners and weekend snacks. From June 4 through July 2, the meals will be distributed through summer school programs under the Monroe County School District’s guidance. From July 6 through Aug. 7, the SOS Foundation will hand out backpacks at five sites across the Lower Keys.

Local campaign materials show the need is much larger than one fundraiser. One page says 74% of Key West public-school children qualified for meal support last year, and 2,329 children from Key West through Big Pine Key may go hungry or be underfed after school hours. SOS Foundation says 43% of Monroe County residents live below the federal poverty line or within the ALICE threshold, a measure that captures households struggling to afford basics even when they are working.

State and local programs are trying to close that gap. Florida’s Summer BreakSpot provides free meals to children 18 and under while school is out, and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says its Summer Resource Map is designed to identify service gaps and improve access to summer meals. The Monroe County School District also keeps free-and-reduced-price meal information, menus and eligibility details posted for the 2025-2026 school year, while SOS Foundation reports it delivered 89,265 fresh meals last year, a 23% increase from 2023 to 2024.