This week, a report crossed my desk from the Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center, one of the many nonprofit organizations that are part of our Season of Sharing network. Within its pages, I was introduced to Candis, a hardworking employee with Sarasota County Schools and mother of two young children – one seven years old, and the other eleven months. For the last year and a half, Candis took time off from work to care for her husband as he battled with cancer, before he tragically passed away in September. Having fallen behind in her mortgage, she reached out to the Sarasota County School Board for a month’s worth of rental assistance, to ensure her children would have a roof over their head as they said goodbye to their father.

I am able to share this emotional story for no other reason than Candis’ courage and generosity. By no means is it easy to take that first step in requesting help at one’s most trying time. And then to follow that courageous step by laying bare your most difficult moments to inspire others – sometimes even complete strangers – is the ultimate gift of generosity to sacrifice one’s greatest hardship knowing your story can help inspire others to help our neighbors in need. In Candis’ story as well as the many others touched by Season of Sharing in its more than 21 years, trust is an ever-present force that catalyzes and brings forth hope.

Without trust, Season of Sharing – a region-wide campaign to extend a helping hand to our neighbors living on the economic edge from Punta Gorda to Parrish – wouldn’t exist. Thankfully, a trusted and robust network of more than 50 human service agencies has developed over the years to distribute dollars quickly, thoughtfully, and without the proverbial “red tape,” so there is security and peace of mind when there is nowhere else to turn in an emergency.

Of the many things nearly two years of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed, we saw the long-term effectiveness of this network affirmed, from those who give to those who navigate human services on behalf of those in crisis. In other parts of the country, communities scrambled to develop a network of agencies and raise general funds for the very instabilities – be it rent, mortgage, utilities, child care or transportation – that Season of Sharing has watched over for more than two decades. As we’ve seen amidst this crisis and will see beyond it, collaboration paired with trust is how we can all come together for the betterment of our community.

Beginning this week, we are once again reigniting this time-tested and trusted campaign to address the heightened needs still being experienced by too many of our neighbors in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

I can think of no better gift this holiday season than realizing that you can profoundly change someone’s life, no matter your means. To strengthen your generosity, longtime Season of Sharing partner The Patterson Foundation is continuing its support through a matching opportunity, contributing $100,000 for every $500,000 raised by the community through Jan. 31, 2022. With no cap on the number of contributions donors can activate, there is no better time to give what you can knowing that every dollar matters and stays local to help our most vulnerable.

Season of Sharing reminds us that by addressing daily instabilities, we gain the perspectives, connections, and resources necessary to meaningfully approach our greatest challenges. It’s within this trusted network of care for neighbors, by neighbors, that we can restore stability and unlock possibilities so everyone who calls this area home can thrive. We hope you’ll be a part of it.

Roxie Jerde is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

To make a gift or learn more about Season of Sharing, please visit www.cfsarasota.org/community-impact/community-care/season-of-sharing. Thank you for your generosity.