Lucky Duck Foundation - GuideStar Profile (2024)

Homeless Advocacy

The Lucky Duck Foundation (LDF) is committed to alleviating the suffering of homelessness throughout San Diego County.

LDF was formed in 2005 by Pat & Stephanie Kilkenny to raise funds and awareness for numerous charitable causes throughout San Diego.

In 2016, when Pat & Stephanie noticed a growing and urgent need for leadership and action to address San Diego’s homeless crisis, San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler and business and civic leader Dan Shea were simultaneously calling upon business leaders, politicians, philanthropists, and other stakeholders to join them in taking action to address the issue in a best-in-class, fact-based manner.

After closely studying homelessness and collaborating with Peter & Dan, Pat & Stephanie knew the Lucky Duck Foundation could have an even greater impact if they focused the Foundation’s efforts squarely on homelessness. They decided to do so, and shortly after pivoting, the Lucky Duck Foundation purchased several large industrial tent structures to provide shelter and critical services for more than 650 individuals.

And ever since, the Lucky Duck Foundation has funded, activated, and led numerous high-impact initiatives that alleviate the suffering of homelessness throughout San Diego County. Such initiatives include:

- Funding region-wide employment and job training programs across a multitude of industries including culinary, community beautification, food rescue, trash cleanup, certificate programs, and more. All are designed to give individuals experiencing homelessness an opportunity to improve their earning power, employability, and housing.

- Providing food and water to unsheltered homeless individuals due to COVID-19 eliminating faith-based and congregate meal services. Since launching, more than 1,000,000 meals have been distributed and more than 1,000 people per day receive food and water.

- Purchasing and distributing more than 5,000 winter coats that fold out into sleeping bags, which are made by homeless parents who are hired to do the manufacturing.

- Supporting and facilitating “Lucky Ducklings,” a youth-led movement of more than 150 high school youth committed to volunteering, designing programs, learning about philanthropy and how they can play a constructive role in alleviating the suffering of homelessness.

- Convening leadership and research professionals from San Diego’s institutions of higher learning to focus and fund those institutions to undertake meaningful and actionable research into the myriad of issues surrounding homelessness.

- Meeting every week (without missing a week including all holidays) to strategize about how the private sector and LDF can most effectively accelerate change.

- And countless other best-in-class programs that are based on the facts, cost-effective, and help people experiencing homelessness end their homelessness.

Everything LDF does is predicated on leading San Diego to best practices in all areas of homelessness.

The Lucky Duck Foundation (LDF) raises money to fund, activate and lead high-impact programs to alleviate the suffering of homelessness. And its co-founders match all donations up to $1.5 million per year.

The Tuesday Group is an informal, unincorporated group of fact-based business and civic leaders consisting of several LDF Board Members which meets weekly to determine what the private sector and LDF can do to most effectively accelerate change. The Tuesday Group has not missed a weekly meeting since forming in 2016, including Christmas Day & New Year’s Day.

Additionally, members of the Tuesday Group & Lucky Duck Foundation regularly convene homeless symposiums consisting of key leaders and stakeholders, such as the San Diego Housing Commission, the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, political leaders, homeless social service providers, other business leaders, foundations and philanthropists, to instigate progress and collaboration and hold elected leaders accountable. More than 40 homeless symposiums have been hosted consisting of topics such as access to shelter, activating underutilized government properties as shelters, affordable housing, mental health, employment and job training, and more.

Together, the Lucky Duck Foundation & Tuesday Group endeavor to lead San Diego to best practices in all areas of homeless by taking immediate action, collaborating with and surviving generations of politicians, and providing elbow grease and resources to best-in-class programs and organizations.

For example, in late 2021, LDF called on regional elected leaders to develop an inclement weather shelter plan when it learned no plan was in place ahead of the cold and rainy season. At the same time, LDF committed to distributing at least 2,000 winter coats that transform into sleeping bags to provide some warmth and protection from the elements. A short time later, the City of San Diego agreed to add 65 inclement weather shelter beds. Though many more inclement weather shelter beds are needed, it was a step in the right direction.

Another example is LDF’s region-wide employment and job training initiative, whereby LDF invested $1 million to fund more than a dozen programs designed to hire and/or train individuals experiencing homelessness. More than 500 individuals have benefited from the program. One program hires shelter residents and trains them to be food rescue route drivers. Every graduate of the program has gone on to secure full-time employment and is still housed and nearly 500,000 pounds of food have been rescued.

In summary, the Lucky Duck Foundation, in partnership with the Tuesday Group, endeavor to lead San Diego to best practices in all areas of homelessness by funding, activating and leading high-impact programs and working with elected leaders to constructively encourage and collaborate with them to do more.