CELEBRATE CLAY

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about celebrate clay

a summary

Celebrate Clay was created in 2009 by The Paul E. & Klare N. Reinhold Foundation, Inc. to recognize, reward, and encourage community service within Clay County. Annual cash awards are presented to nonprofit groups providing outstanding services, as selected by a panel of judges who vote the best for that year. Since 2009, the Reinhold Foundation has awarded $1,372,000 to more than 100 nonprofit organizations at its annual “Celebrate Clay” community service awards breakfast.

Clay County Rescue Mission earned the Paul E. Reinhold Community Service Award of the year in 2025. Click below for the full list of 2025 recipients and the lists of past years' award recipients.

Read the full article here.

2025 Awards Program

$107,000 was awarded at the 2025 celebrate clay awards ceremony as follows

30 Category Awards

$1000

10 Special Judges' Program Awards

$2000

2 Outstanding Volunteer Awards

$3500

1 Peggy Bryan Volunteer of the Year

$7000

2 Jack Myers Executive Director of the Year

$7000

2 Judges' Choice Program Awards

$7000

1 Paul E. Reinhold Community Service of the Year Award

$15000

Award categories

  • Arts and Culture
  • Civic Community Service
  • Community Programs
  • Education and Literacy
  • Environment and Animal Welfare
  • Health and Human Services
  • Senior Services and Accomplishments
  • Church/Service Outreach Programs
  • Accomplishments By Youth
  • Service to Youth and Families
judges

2025 Judges

A panel of five judges including three volunteers from the community and two representatives on behalf of the Reinhold Foundation voted on the best projects and volunteers of 2024 to determine the winners of the $107,000 in cash awards presented at the 2025 Celebrate Clay Awards Breakfast. The 2025 Judges were: Mr. Mike Cella, former District 1 Commissioner, Clay County Board of County Commissioners; Mr. Ed Hubel, FACHE, Hospital President, Baptist Medical Center Clay; Pastor Carey Morford, Executive Director, Mission of the Dirt Road; and Ms. Klare Bryan and Ms. Kristin Egan, Reinhold Family Members.

(Photo: 2025 Celebrate Clay Judges, left to right - Kristin Egan, Carey Morford, Mike Cella, Klare Bryan, and Ed Hubel)

eligibility

To be eligible to apply, organizations must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and not a "private foundation” under Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Every 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the First Coast area, regardless of size, is eligible, as long as the project submitted actively supports citizens of Clay County and the sponsoring organization validates its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status (including proof that it is not a "private foundation” under Section 509(a) of the IRC). Applications that do not contain proof of the organization’s 501(c)(3) status will not be accepted.

Applications for the 2026 Celebrate Clay Awards will be available December 15, 2025.

SAVE

The Date

Celebrate Clay
Awards Breakfast

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

NEED

assistance?

Contact Amy Parker

(904) 269-5857, Ext. 404