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Tag: Giving Challenge

Help out local nonprofits during the Giving Challenge

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Business.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – After taking a year off, this year The Giving Challenge returns just when local nonprofits need funds the most.

Due to closures to help slow the spread of coronavirus, many local nonprofits have had to close their doors to the public and seen drops in the donations required to keep their community programs going after the pandemic passes.

The Giving Challenge, hosted by The Community Foundation of Sarasota County, brings together nearly 700 local nonprofit organizations to help raise needed funds.

One of the bonuses of giving to local organizations during the challenge is that donations of up to $100 each are matched by The Patterson Foundation. That means that a donation of $100 to a participating Island nonprofit results in $200 going to the nonprofit.

All the nonprofits in this year’s Giving Challenge are from Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. Some of the local participating organizations are:

  • The Center of Anna Maria Island
  • The Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus and Orchestra
  • The Artists’ Guild of Anna Maria Island
  • Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH)
  • Friends of Manatee County Animal Services Inc.
  • Friends of the Florida Maritime Museum
  • Keep Manatee Beautiful
  • The Paradise Center of Longboat Key
  • Manatee Children’s Services
  • Manatee County 4-H Association
  • Manatee County Audubon Society
  • Manatee County Habitat for Humanity
  • Manatee County Public Library Foundation
  • Manatee County Historical Commission
  • Manatee Family YMCA
  • Mayors Feed the Hungry Program
  • Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee
  • Moonracer No Kill Animal Rescue
  • Mote Marine Laboratory
  • Palma Sola Botanical Park Foundation
  • Southeastern Guide Dogs
  • South West Florida Therapy Animals
  • Special Olympics Florida – Manatee County
  • Suncoast Waterkeeper
  • Art Center Manatee
  • The Blessing Bags Project
  • Hope Seeds
  • The Manatee Players
  • TIFF Initiative
  • Underdog Rescue of Florida
  • We Care Manatee
  • Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Inc.
  • Women’s Resource Center Inc.

There are many more organizations participating. For information on all the participating nonprofits and to donate during the challenge, visit The Giving Challenge.

Meeting the Challenge

Written by Sun staff on . Posted in Editorial, Opinion.

The kindness of strangers was on full view last week in the 2018 Giving Challenge.

The philanthropic fundraiser generated a little more than $11.7 million in donations and dollar-for-dollar matches for local nonprofit organizations.

Interestingly, most of the gifts were of the grassroots variety, averaging less than $100 throughout the four-county region of Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

A few notable among the local recipients were the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH), which received more than $28,500 from 178 donors. Almost half of that dollar amount came from the dollar-for-dollar match.

Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Inc. of Bradenton Beach made $14,780 from 198 donors and $12,955 from matching grants for a total of $27,735.

Other local nonprofit recipients included Mote Marine, The Center of Anna Maria Island and the Anna Maria Island Historical Society. A complete list is included in our story.

Congratulations to the nonprofits, which will greatly benefit from these cash infusions. And a big thank you to all those who donated, illustrating once again the generosity of the people of Anna Maria Island and the entire region.

Wildlife Inc.

Local non-profits bank on generosity

Written by Tom Vaught on . Posted in Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – The groups that serve dogs, cats, horses and other animals attracted most of the donations among the 400-plus not-for-profits registered with the 2018 Giving Challenge on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Two of the top three agencies that brought in more than $100,000, Honor Sanctuary Inc. and Cat Depot, were animal-based.

The same was true for the 12 barrier island groups.

Mote Marine Laboratory got $49,308 from 430 donors and they also made $28,096 in matching funds for a total of $77,404.

Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Inc. of Bradenton Beach made $14,780 from 198 donors and $12,955 from matching grants for a total of $27,735.

Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage in Cortez attracted 178 donors for $14,860 and matching grants of $13,710 for a total of $28,570.

Gail and Ed Straight, of Wildlife Inc., need money to treat and house injured animals from all over the county, and when Hurricane Irma came through, they suffered damage to cages.

“This will come in handy,” Ed Straight said. “In addition to filling a void left when the Island Blood Drive ended, the hurricane made our situation urgent.”

The Friends of the Florida Maritime Museum collected $6,025 from 90 donors and $5,475 from the match for a total of $11,500. Museum Director Kristin Sweeting said they have plans for that money.

“We’re looking to build three traveling exhibits about the village and the role of fishing in Florida,” she said. “We also applied for a grant and if we get that, we’ll spend some money for education projects, so the money will come in handy.”

Another Cortez group, Cortez Village Historical Society, made $3,735 from 65 donors and a match of $3,735 for a total of $7,470.

The Center of Anna Maria Island collected $10,925 from 109 donors plus a $7,825 match for a total of $18,750. Center Interim Director Chris Culhane said that was a little less than last year, but last year was a triple match instead of a double match this year.

“We need a new van for the children and we applied to the county for some money,” he said. “If we don’t get money from the county we’ll spend some of it on that and if the county comes through, we’ll spend it somewhere else.”

A total of $11,733,241 was raised in the challenge from 74,684 donations this year. Last year they raised $13.4 million last year, but the match was higher last year.

The Giving Challenge is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County with additional support by The Patterson Foundation, as well as support from Manatee Community Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, and the Herald-Tribune Media Group.

Giving Challenge 2018

Center summer camp

Center finances hold steady in March

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Center of Anna Maria Island, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – Finances at The Center of Anna Maria Island continue to improve, but the nonprofit still has a long way to go to reach board members’ hopes for the future.

In March, the Center’s finances ended with a $2,300 positive balance bringing the total to $11,308 in the black fiscal year to date. This puts the nonprofit $199,439 over this time last year.

“We are still performing much better than last year in expenses and revenue,” Treasurer Christine Hicks said.

Despite closing the month once again in the black, the Center’s finances remain $36,202 below expected budget projections of $47,510 fiscal year to date. Board Chair David Zaccagnino attributed part of the shortfall to a lack of financial support from the three Island cities. He said he would soon be approaching each city commission to ask for reconsideration of funding the Center before the fiscal year ends.

Hicks said two other reasons for the shortfall include a lack of fundraising and $100,000 in unbudgeted capital expenditures. Board members agreed they were all hopeful that upcoming summer camp programming and this year’s Giving Challenge will help strengthen the Center’s financial position through the summer months.

“It’s an exciting time for the Center,” interim Executive Director Carl Weeks said.

Weeks announced that he hired grant writer Yvette Little to join the Center’s team to help seek out grant opportunities.

With just under a month to go before Weeks bids the Center goodbye, board member Karen Harllee said final interviews are underway to select a new permanent executive director. Out of 172 applicants, the pool was narrowed down to three candidates who made it to in-person interviews with board members and the Center’s hiring committee. Final interviews are scheduled for this week.

Also beginning this week is registration for the Center’s summer camp programs. Each week has a different theme and features a weekly field trip for children up to sixth grade and two weekly trips for teens in seventh to 10th grade.

In the kindergarten to sixth-grade camp, children will be able to choose between a sports or crafts elective in the morning and participate in group activities in the afternoon. Camp runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Registration is required by the Tuesday prior to the week of camp the child is attending. The cost is $165 per week or $140 per week for Center annual family members. A $25 registration fee is applied to new campers. The cost for the teens camp is $100 per week.

Returning specialty camps are drama and sailing camps. Drama camp is a nine-day camp held at the Island Players Theater July 9-12 and July 16-20. Two public performances will be held July 20. The cost is $240 for both weeks. Children ages 6 to 13 are invited to attend.

Sailing camp takes to the waters of Bimini Bay in two sessions, June 11-14 and June 18-21. Campers sail the high seas daily from 9 a.m. to noon. The cost is $175 and ages 8 to 14 are welcome to attend.

For more information on summer camps call the Center at 941-778-1908.

Zaccagnino said he anticipates this year to be the busiest summer ever at the Center. “It’s going to be an exciting summer at the Center,” he said.