An Orlando philanthropist and Florida hotel chain owner recently donated a $35,000 grant to GNV4ALL’s Gainesville Empowerment Zone Family Learning Center (GEZFLC).

According to a GNV4ALL press release sent Tuesday, Harris Rosen, the founder and president of the Orlando-based Rosen Hotels & Resorts, Inc., gave the funds via the Rosen Foundation.

“I have been struck by the tenacity of Gainesville for All and its supporters in their efforts to improve academic achievement among children from low-income families,” said Rosen in the release. “Because I have personally witnessed how the quality of life of a community can be enhanced where a spirit of giving exists, I urge Gainesville area residents to strongly support GNV4ALL and its family learning center.”

The GEZFLC, an early childhood development facility that services children ages six weeks to 4 years old and helps close the academic achievement gap between black and white students in Alachua County, opened its doors on Aug. 10, 2023 at Metcalfe Elementary School in Gainesville. The learning center held a spring celebration in March.

“We are pleased that Mr. Rosen recognizes the value of the approach that we’re using to begin chipping away at a persistent problem,” said James F. Lawrence, GNV4ALL president, in the release. “After being open for just eight months, at least two studies have found that we’re already making significant progress.”

According to the release, “The GEZFLC was inspired five years ago by the work of the Rosen Foundation after a delegation of local leaders joined Lawrence on a daylong tour of Rosen’s Orlando preschools. The Rosen Preschool, located in the near downtown Parramore neighborhood, was the primary model for the Gainesville initiative.”

In an email to Mainstreet, Lawrence added that the grant comes on the heels of a recent ELC [Early Learning Coalition of Alachua County] assessment that ranked the 7-month-old GEZFLC among the higher-performing childcare providers in Alachua County based on classroom observations.

“A recently completed research paper directed by the University of Florida’s Lastinger Center had high praise for the center,” said Lawrence in the email. “We’re extremely pleased with the progress we’re making in such a short period of time.”