Pictured: Photo I.D. (from left to right): Dr. Anita Rogers, David Rubin, Mrs. Jacquelyn Paulk, and Mrs. Celestine Campbell at SOAR. Photo credit: Karen Arango Photography.

Each year, SRQ Media invites the community to nominate individuals with hearts of giving who have made a significant impact with local nonprofit organizations — from volunteers and board members to individual staff members and donors. This year, attendees were thrilled to be together as we recognized our annual Good Hero Philanthropic Award recipients at the SB2: Philanthropic Agenda Luncheon and Good Hero Philanthropic Awards Luncheon on Thursday, December 9, 2021 at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota. In the coming weeks, we are happy to feature each of the twelve honorees in our Wednesday Philanthropic edition of SRQ Daily.

Today we are honoring good hero and donor, David Rubin. David is driven by the philosophy of "thinking globally and acting locally.” He has deeply impacted our community through thoughtful charitable giving, with a focus on uplifting others through education and meaningful connections. He has collaborated significantly with SOAR (Seeds of Academic Resource), a community-based education program for students in grades K to 3 in Newtown. David contributed gifts from his fund at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to help construct SOAR’s 3,000-square-foot, permanent learning center facility and set up a Fund at the Community Foundation so that interested supporters could invest back into the center. To date, the fund has raised $944,000 to finish the construction of SOAR’s building and to support its programs. Guided by his faith in Nikiren— Buddhism, David sees everything as an opportunity to create value for others, holding deep respect for the value of connections.

Pictured: Photo I.D. (from left to right): Dr. Anita Rogers, David Rubin, Mrs. Jacquelyn Paulk, and Mrs. Celestine Campbell at SOAR. Photo credit: Karen Arango Photography.