What happens to Kelly Cares Foundation now that Brian and Paqui have left South Bend?

It’s hard to say what will become of the Kelly Cares Foundation in South Bend now that Brian and Paqui Kelly have departed to Louisiana State University. 

The foundation, which is largely overseen by people from other cities, will likely follow the family to their new home in Baton Rouge, La., where Brian Kelly will be able to use his status to continue raising money for the organization. 

The foundation’s offices at Eddy Street Commons closed in January 2020 — even before the pandemic — and its executive director moved on to a different opportunity in New Jersey later that year.

Two emails sent to the foundation were unanswered and listed phone numbers are no longer working. 

But even last week, the foundation was stumping for pledges on its Facebook page, using its shop with a Notre Dame football player event as the backdrop for its request, possibly showing the speed of the LSU decision. 

According to the foundation’s website, the organization has distributed $5.75 million to 195 causes in 20 states and four countries. It was created about the same time Paqui Kelly learned of her second diagnosis with breast cancer. 

The key focus of the foundation has been on cancer research and patient advocacy. In Mishawaka, the Paqui and Brian Kelly Comprehensive Breast Center at St. Joseph Health System serves as a reminder of that effort, for which the foundation donated a couple of hundred thousand dollars. 

The hospital system remains grateful for that donation, as do most of the organizations that benefited by its existence. 

“Saint Joseph Health System and the Kelly Cares Foundation partnered to create the Paqui and Brian Kelly Comprehensive Breast Center to provide a better breast care experience,” Dr. Genevieve Lankowicz, regional chief clinical officer for the health system, said in a statement via email. 

"We also want to thank the Kellys for their contributions to our community and we wish them well,” Lankowicz added. 

But the foundation also made a wide variety of other donations in the community, including the Ronald McDonald House, the Center for the Homeless, St. Joseph County Parks, Goodwill Industries, St. Joseph High School, cancer research efforts at Notre Dame and others. 

Beyond those local donations, the foundation also has been providing routine support for the Holtz Charitable Foundation, the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Declan Drumm Sullivan Memorial Fund, named for the student who died while filming football practice in 2010.