2024 marked a year of growth and impact for the Lucky Duck Foundation as we continued to provide hope and a brighter pathway through each of our life-changing and life-saving programs, investments, collaborations, and advocacy, while focusing especially on youth and seniors. While the enclosed does not capture all that we achieved in 2024, we hope it will provide a deeper level of insight into our work and outcomes.
In 2024, we launched “Foster Futures” in partnership with the Regional Task Force on Homelessness and Promises2Kids. This initiative supports foster youth — who face higher risks of homelessness — by providing critical resources to help them achieve self-sustainability.
Dulce Pelayo (pictured speaking) is a formerly homeless foster youth who benefited from Promises2Kids’ programming.
“Foster Futures program will ensure that foster youth like me have both the financial and (other) resources they need allowing them to focus on what’s important rather than their current economic struggles and what’s holding them back,” she said.
Pelayo now works for San Diego County’s Health and Human Services department.
We teamed up with the San Diego Padres Foundation to launch a trade school program at Urban Street Angels, benefiting youth with a multitude of career pathways. In its first year, 40 youth completed the program, and 38 secured long-term jobs and housing.
Ashton Lopez (pictured) found himself homeless shortly after being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. He’s one of those who completed Urban Street’s career-training program. He’s now working full-time, as an Emergency Medical Technician, his first big step in becoming a paramedic.
“That definitely propelled me forward way faster than I could have on my own.” Lopez said regarding his career training program. “I really like the feeling that I can truly impact somebody’s life that could go from certain death to leading on the rest of their life.”
Alexandra Perez (pictured) also completed the program, becoming a Certified Nurse’s Assistant. She learned a trade, earned confidence and now has the hope for a bright future that was missing.
“Just keep looking to the next step and not the whole staircase because we have a lot of steps, or a lot of goals that we want to complete, but first is one thing and then another. That’s when you can succeed,” Perez said.
Timmy’s Place, the social enterprise nonprofit we launched with the Rolf Benirschke Legacy Foundation in mid-2023 to train and hire homeless youth, employed more than 50 youth in 2024.
Timmy Benirschke (pictured), the namesake of Timmy’s Place, spent about five years homeless and addicted. He was able to overcome addiction and homelessness four years ago and has stayed clean and housed ever since.
“I am completely humbled to share a name with this amazing pizzeria and print shop,” Timmy said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think anything like this would be possible. It’s further evidence that faith and a brighter pathway are possible for anyone, and evidence of the importance of having people believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself. It is so gratifying to know young lives are being saved and then made because of Timmy’s Place.”
Our partnership with the Youth Assistance Coalition (YAC) led to the creation of a safe-haven house for homeless youth in late 2023. The home costs less to operate and shelter 6 people than what YAC was paying to house and feed just one person in a local hotel shelter for a year. Early outcomes were such that we committed to providing at least two years’ worth of funding to ensure the house can aid more youth well into the future.
“It’s not giving them everything, it’s helping them,” said Heather Lezon, Founder & Executive Director, Youth Assistance Coalition. “It’s the way that a youth should be helped when they’re growing, to grow successfully. Because the world is hard enough as it is, but to do it alone without a safety net, how do you get out of that?”
“All my life changed right here, everything. I feel now, finally I can start to make my life.” –Esteban Gutierrez, one of the safe haven’s residents
In response to the growing number of seniors becoming homeless, “Seniors Safe at Home” offers shallow rental subsidies to prevent at-risk seniors from losing their housing. It is much more cost-effective to keep a senior housed with a shallow rental subsidy than the traumatic impact and cost to our community if they end up on the streets, which can cost $40,000 per person per year.
“It’s love in action,” said Marti Fahlgren (pictured), a senior resident at the Potiker Family Senior Residence. “It’s giving me hope, I mean I didn’t know what was going to happen to me in my future.”
We supported Veterans Village’s Stand Down event, where veterans, many of whom are seniors, were connected to services and housing, helping them transition off the streets. The San Diego Rescue Mission’s South County Lighthouse, a new 162-bed shelter for which the Lucky Duck Foundation was a leading donor, hosted Stand Down.
“Regardless of the experiences and circumstances, we all served,” said Paul Armstrong, Veteran and VP of Programs, San Diego Rescue Mission. “That oath was our pledge to you that we would do our part. Now, some of my fellow veterans need us to serve them. This event is our opportunity to do that.”
In 2024, we distributed 4,500 winter coats that transform into sleeping bags to help unsheltered San Diegans survive colder months. This initiative is part of our ongoing efforts to provide essential resources, having already distributed more than 17,000 coats since 2020.
“It means a lot to me, because I’m getting old and its cold out here at night. I grew up here in San Diego and I pretty much froze last night and I’m waiting on housing.” –John, sleeping bag coat beneficiary
“It helps with surviving pretty much. It helps with everything; sleeping when it’s cold, everything pretty much.” –Daniel, sleeping bag coat beneficiary
Our Food and Water outreach program continued to provide sustenance to as many as 500 unsheltered individuals daily, with over 1.9 million meals distributed since 2020. The youth-led Lucky Ducklings group played a key role in this program, assembling over 10,000 food kits in 2024, on top of amassing hundreds of volunteer hours elsewhere.
Pictured: Lucky Ducklings from the Bishop’s School assemble meals on-campus as part of their all-school food & water packing event.
“Being a Lucky Duckling is just being someone that cares and is willing to make a difference in our community.” –Dani Lotzof, Lucky Duckling from Canyon Crest Academy (pictured)
“What she’s learned from the Lucky Ducklings club is that giving back actually helps. And, it’s first hand. She gets to experience the giving immediately. The result when you put food on a plate and hand it to somebody and you get that smile, it’s immediate impact, and I think that’s so powerful.” –Marc Lotzof, Dani’s father
“Cash for Trash,” which pays homeless individuals to clean up the streets, has removed more than 200 tons of trash from downtown San Diego.
And we expanded “Be A Friend-Impact A Life,” which trains and connects volunteers with individuals experiencing homelessness to offer them support, companionship, and a sense of value to help them achieve the life they want to achieve. The program has been implemented at seven different service providers and has created more than 65 pairs.
“The best thing you can offer a person on the streets is recognition of their worth and value.” –Be A Friend Founder Mary Benirschke
Warren Miller works with many youth at Youth Assistance Coalition. He decided to “Be A Friend” to Sergio, a youth cancer survivor.
“(Be A Friend) provides opportunities through activities and focused conversations to dig deeper into my friend’s life and really get to know his story, who he is, and help him focus on his goals for the future.” –Warren Miller
Sergio now has a friend and mentor to look up to.
“I feel comfortable sharing my life details and feelings without fear of judgement. It is just a natural friendship.” –Sergio
We continued to advocate for more effective action from local government. Our “Shamrocks & Shipwrecks” public scoring system tracked political progress on homelessness, rewarding strong actions and holding elected officials accountable.
We supported organizations like We See You San Diego, which provides immediate addiction treatment and long-term support, and we provided $500,000 in matching challenge grants to numerous organizations, all of whom achieved the match, thus unlocking an additional $500,000 in new funds in support of best-in-class strategies. We also partnered with Alex Morgan Foundation over the holidays to benefit young moms and their children working to overcome homelessness with the help of Home Start.
“Partnering up with Lucky Duck and Home Start was a no-brainer because they’re going out in the community, really helping moms and families.” –Alex Morgan, U.S. Women’s Soccer legend, Olympic Gold-Medalist, and founder of the Alex Morgan Foundation
Ashley, who attended the event with her son, said, “It means a lot to me. You know, the (Home Start) program has been really good to me, so I really do appreciate you guys.” She also mentioned that the gift cards made their holidays more festive.
Also in 2024, the Lucky Duck Foundation established a new advisory committee of individuals with lived homeless experience. The committee, consisting of youth and seniors, is designed to better inform the Lucky Duck Foundation’s work.
The committee is led by Lucky Duck Board Member Ben Schuster, who was homeless for much of his youth. Ben went on to earn a Master of Science in Real Estate from the University of San Diego and is now a successful business person.
Advisory committee members from left to right: John Kawamura, Makayla Scott, Joey Rubio, Turo Tomas, Ben Schuster
“I chose Lucky Duck, first and foremost because of the people, the board members, I really got a sense that these are people who are looking to take no credit, and want to take a practical business approach to solving a very complex social, humanity issue.” –Ben Schuster
In all, the Lucky Duck Foundation partnered with or supported more than 50 different non-profit organizations and programs that help prevent and alleviate the suffering of homelessness. And it did so while keeping costs low, operating with an expense ratio north of 90%.
By the end of 2024, there was evidence that this effort is having an impact. In both November and December, for the first time in nearly three years, the number of those finding housing each month was greater than the number who lost housing, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.
Cause San Diego, which connects for-profit businesses with the most-urgent social issues in the region, named the Lucky Duck Foundation as its Social Impact Non-Profit Charity of the Year.
The Lucky Ducklings were recognized by the National Conflict Resolution Center with the Local Peacemaker Award.
“I can say with confidence that our work with the Lucky Duck Foundation has given each of us a new appreciation of this complex issue.” –Jack Levin, Lucky Duckling from La Jolla Country Day School (pictured on right), upon accepting the award on behalf of the Lucky Ducklings
Our staff was recognized with the Spirit of Carol Sigelman award by the North County Philanthropy Council, which recognizes a nonprofit leader who exemplifies the passion, integrity, wisdom and humor that Carol embodied.
And, our co-founders, Pat and Stephanie Kilkenny, who match all donations up to $1.5 million per year, were honored with the “Bill Walton Shine On Award for Community Leadership” by the San Diego Sport Innovators.
“We miss our friend Bill Walton dearly. He was about the most selfless person we’ve ever known. Receiving an award in his honor was a complete surprise and very humbling. He always said he was the luckiest guy in the world. But we think we are the luckiest people in the world for knowing him and having his unending support.” –Stephanie (pictured) & Pat Kilkenny, co-founders, Lucky Duck Foundation
Despite our progress, our work is far from over.
We are more committed than ever to activating tangible and measurable programs to aid our most vulnerable neighbors. Programs that are immediate, cost-effective, and provide hope and a brighter pathway.
We’re also committed to collaborating with local politicians while calling for more immediate results.
There are countless donors and volunteers who make what we do possible. Thank you sincerely to every donor, volunteer, board member, and partner who made possible what we did in 2024.
I cannot think of a better way to describe each of our donors and supporters than what Ryunosuke Satoro says: “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
We hope you will join us in 2025 as we will build on these efforts to provide hope and a brighter pathway for even more San Diegans suffering from, or at risk of, homelessness.
Drew Moser
CEO, Lucky Duck Foundation
“We are so pleased and humbled to support the Lucky Duck Foundation. We greatly value their collaborative approach and use of business principles to reach a meaningful number of people through a variety of programs and strategies. Supporting their work at a high level brings us great fulfillment and we highly encourage others to do the same.”
–David & Vala Lueth, $1 million donors in 2024
“There are a variety of reasons that make our support of the Lucky Duck Foundation an easy decision. The Foundation has developed a portfolio of strategies and programs that truly and effectively make a difference in the effort to address homelessness. There is no single solution that can address the entire homeless population, and we sincerely appreciate their decision to prioritize youth and seniors who are unsheltered. Helping young people and elderly individuals avoid being homeless is simply the right thing to do and a good investment that saves lives and money over the long term.
The Board of Directors are exemplary in their focus and the co-founders (Pat and Steph) infuse an energy into the organization’s actions that is inspiring. We are truly excited about our support of the Foundation and we encourage other individuals and corporations to do the same.”
–Eugene “Mitch” & Rebecca Mitchell
“Lucky Duck Foundation’s mission is critical to my wife, Karen and myself. They support trying to better individuals who are homeless in San Diego County. We feel fortunate to be able to work with the Lucky Duck Foundation Team, a group of people who are firmly committed to making San Diego County a better place for our sisters and brothers who happen to be homeless.”
–Tom & Karen Mulvaney
Personal or corporate checks can be made out to:
The Lucky Duck Foundation
5675 Ruffin Road, Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92123
To make arrangements donating, contact:
Leave a lasting legacy by including the Lucky Duck Foundation in your estate planning.
There are many ways your organization can get involved and support community giving and volunteering.
We offer turnkey peer-to-peer fundraising so you can create your own fundraising page and invite your friends and family to support the Lucky Duck Foundation and its programs.
We’ve partnered with LNDRY, a premier laundry service in San Diego, to pick up your gently used clothes donation (for free!) to help homeless employment and education-seekers look and feel their best!
Enjoy premium craft coffee with a purpose. Our coffee partner, Tower Roasting Co., provides 100% organic fair trade coffee while helping to prevent and reduce homelessness in San Diego by donating 30% of every sale.
Our “Shamrocks & Shipwrecks” scoring system publicly highlights tangible, positive action and calls out shortcomings of elected leaders for addressing homelessness throughout San Diego County.
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5675 Ruffin Road, Suite 100,
San Diego, CA 92123
The Lucky Duck Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax ID: 20-3324885
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