Jim Stepp
Lifelong philanthropist
Jim Stepp. Courtesy of Our Fund Foundation.
By Christiana Lilly
Jim Stepp, who spent his life giving back to causes advancing the rights of LGBT people, died May 4 at 85.
Stepp was a founding board member of the Our Fund Foundation in Wilton Manors, an organization that since 2010 has supported philanthropy giving to LGBTQ organizations locally and across the country. Each year, it gives more than $1,500,000 to nonprofit agencies.
In February 2019, Stepp and his husband Peter Zimmer were the inaugural recipients of the Raising the Bar Award, also known as the South Florida LGBTQ Philanthropist of the Year, hosted by the Our Fund Foundation.
The couple also donated to the Florida AIDS Walk, and in 2011 made a donation from their trust to Stonewall National Museum & Archives. The two were also Platinum Level members of the Pride Center’s Founders Circle and Equality Florida’s Legacy of Equality Society. But Stepp and Zimmer’s days of philanthropy stretched beyond his days in South Florida. While living in New York City, they were also early supporters of SAGE and Lambda Legal.
This is an excerpt from a story that ran in South Florida Gay News. Reprinted with permission from Christiana Lilly.
