The Idlewild Foundation exists to serve our Lord Jesus through the promotion of Godly stewardship and greater generosity. Stewardship can be a challenge in creativity – finding new and better ways to do what is best for God’s kingdom on a limited budget. As a part of that, we also enjoy serving those who love Him. Thanks to you and your generosity a lot happens, including:

  • Support for more than 50 foster families caring for more than 80 foster children. Your giving helps in a wide variety of ways including counseling and therapy, connecting them with caring people who can help, recreational support, and assisting with financial support. For more details and to find out how you can be a part of this either as a donor, a volunteer or a foster parent, click here.
  • Free estate planning to widows and widowers who are members of Idlewild Baptist Church.
  • An undergraduate college, vocational, and technical school scholarship program for active Idlewild members with a financial need. This service is the fulfillment of the dream of a generous couple who had a dream to help others. Click here to go to our scholarship page for more details.
  • Financial assistance for persons seeking to adopt.
  • Christ-focused donor advised funds are available as is counseling to donors as to the advantages and operation of such funds.
  • Help and support for the widow ministry of Idlewild Baptist Church.
  • Grants to Idlewild Baptist Church and to Christian ministries that exist to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
  • Events called a Journey to Generosity to work towards a culture of generosity in the Tampa Bay community.

And that is only a small part of what God does thanks to your generosity! Call us for more information and see if we can help.

Lighting Up a Field
Through the generous donations of many people, God allowed The Idlewild Foundation to raise the funds to light the ball fields of the Ken Whitten Sports Complex at Idlewild Baptist Church. This has added many hours of additional available time for sports practice and activities and has greatly increased the outreach capabilities of the recreation ministry of Idlewild Baptist Church.
Hope Starts Here
In mid-2018 The Idlewild Foundation was asked for a grant of $100,000 to allow One More Child to complete the purchase of 17 acres to develop a Compassion Center. This Center will allow them to better minister to the needs of the Sulpher Springs area. We said yes and the purchase was completed. Groundbreaking began in late 2022! This is the bright future of hope for an area in Tampa that has struggled with a lack of opportunities, a lack of support, and especially a lack of compassion. That is changing!
A Growing Foster Care Community
In 2020, The Idlewild Foundation started supporting Tampa Bay area foster care ministries and the foster care ministry of Idlewild Baptist Church. We serve through our Fund 1:27 and a wide variety of support and services. These have helped Idlewild's foster care ministry nearly double in size and numbers. We love the support God has allowed us to offer. And we love and honor the service our foster parents are doing for "the least of these."