Sarasota YMCA has announced that “with a heavy heart” it will be permanently closing its two Sarasota Family YMCA fitness centers on Friday, September 13 at 5pm. The affected fitness centers are the Evalyn Sadlier Jones Branch at Potter Park Drive and the Frank G. Berlin Sr. Branch on South Euclid Avenue.

In a message to the community, the organization reports that despite efforts to the contrary, the centers have “operated at a financial loss for the past several years” and are no longer sustainable. As a result, the YMCA Board will be turning “100% of its focus” to operating the YMCA’s ongoing foster care and social services programs that have served vulnerable populations in the community for many decades, including abused, neglected and at-risk children. “The YMCA’s mission has always been to meet community needs,” the statement reads, “and in continuing to operate these important foster care and social service programs this mission of the YMCA will continue to be fulfilled.”

A “last possible alternative,” the decision to close the fitness centers came only after several different approaches were tried and found insufficient. Despite price changes, modified offerings and even “substantial cost-cutting,” the centers continued to operate at a loss. The national YMCA organization was contacted, as well as neighboring Florida YMCAs, to see if Sarasota YMCA’s fitness centers could be merged with another organization and thus preserved, but no attempts were successful. “We also spoke with important funders in the community seeking financial support,” stated the message from Sarasota YMCA, “but those efforts were not fruitful.”

As for immediate impacts: members will have access to both fitness centers through 5pm on Friday September 13, 2019; the last membership payment draft will be on August 15, 2019; members who have prepaid their annual or semi-annual membership fee will receive a pro-rated refund; programs and sports activities will not be continued past the closure date and refunds will be processed on a pro-rated basis.

However, the before- and after-school program will continue at the Southside, Gocio and Fruitville elementary schools.

“This is not the outcome we wanted,” the statement concludes. “Our hearts go out to everyone in the extended Sarasota YMCA family affected by this. The YMCA exists to serve the needs of the community and it will continue that mission through our foster care and social services programs.” 

Sarasota YMCA

Permanent protection of the 543-acre Murphy Marsh within Manatee County’s Myakka River watershed region was recently announced by the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. Murphy Marsh remains in the most threatened portion of the watershed and links three different Myakka River conservation areas: Triangle Ranch, Lettuce Lakes and Conservation Foundation’s newly conserved Tatum Sawgrass Scrub Preserve.  

Conserving this large tract of private property will enable Conservation Foundation to protect and restore the core of the 2,500-acre Tatum Sawgrass marsh. A landscape-scale restoration plan is being facilitated by the foundation, based on hydrologic modeling of the entire Upper Myakka River watershed. The plan hopes to reduce flooding downstream, increase habitat for animals such as the wood stork, deer, snook and even the endangered Florida panther, and overall, improve the health and vitality of Myakka River. Protecting Murphy Marsh is critical to maintaining the region's water quality, as water flows off the land into the Myakka River and through the more than 40 miles of protected lands that buffer the river before it flows into Charlotte Harbor estuary.

“This is a strategic addition to our protected lands and an outstanding example of how Conservation Foundation skillfully collaborates with federal, state and private organizations, and people to accomplish large goals,” says Charlie Hunsicker, director of Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provided critical funding, and will hold the perpetual conservation easement and provide additional funding for restoration. This protection success was made possible by the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, The Gardener Foundation, the Felburn Foundation, the Myakka River Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation, the Disney Conservation Fund, Skip and Janis Swan, and the Everett W. Erdoesy & Gretha M. Erdoesy Foundation. 

Photo of Tatum Sawgrass Preserve, taken by Glenn Gardner.

Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art has announced that Mark Terman has joined the staff as the senior director of development. With more than 30 years of development experience, Terman served as executive director of principal gifts for 19 years at Michigan State University where he worked most recently with MSU leadership on the university’s successful $1.8 billion campaign. He was the lead fundraiser on the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU, which opened in 2012. Before his time at Michigan State, he was the president of the Michigan Fitness Foundation Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports. 

John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has announced that Heidi Kellman has assumed the role of Director of Philanthropy Administration, serving as an internal liaison for donors and professional advisors, and Michelle Young has joined the foundation as Senior Philanthropic Advisor.

Kellman has worked as part of the Philanthropy team at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County since 2015, most recently in the role of Manager of Donor Services for the Philanthropy department. As Director of Philanthropy Administration, she is responsible for overseeing the internal functions of the department, which include information management, creating fund documents and stewardship tools, developing department policy and procedures, and providing an online resource for charitable giving support.

Young served most recently as the Senior Development Officer for the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art. As Senior Philanthropic Advisor, she will be responsible for working with individual donors and corporations to identify, plan, and measure their charitable giving to local nonprofit organizations. 

Community Foundation of Sarasota County

Neal Communities has committed $150,000 to help fund the Brain Health Initiative at Lakewood Ranch (BHILWR). BHILWR is a three-phase project formed by Lakewood Ranch, The Academy for Brain Health and Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. This collaborative effort is designed to uncover the various positive and negative factors that affect brain health performance, as well as discern, develop and implement interventions aimed at optimizing brain health throughout the lifespan. The BHILWR also aims to establish Lakewood Ranch and the Gulf Coast community as a scientific leader in brain health discovery and innovation.

The Brain Health Initiative team will build from insights gained during the initial Phase 1 surveys that were conducted last year. During Phase 2 of the study—taking place September 2019 through April 2020—researchers will conduct focus groups across the region and use the findings to create strategies for the pilot study, as well as receive input from additional scientific leaders and develop the brain health baseline survey to be implemented in Phase 3.  

Brain Health Initiative at Lakewood Ranch

Ringling College of Art and Design has announced the receipt of a $1 million endowment grant from The Bernard Osher Foundation to support the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Ringling College and its mission to enrich the lives of mature adults in Sarasota and Manatee counties by providing outstanding educational programs.

OLLI at Ringling College was formed in December 2017 when the Ringling College Lifelong Learning Academy (RCLLA) was awarded an initial $100,000 grant from The Bernard Osher Foundation. RCLLA was renamed the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College to commemorate its inclusion in the national network of 123 lifelong learning programs supported by the Osher Foundation at institutions of higher education across the country, including American University, Florida State, Johns Hopkins and more. 

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College

Chef Paul Mattison, executive chef and proprietor of Mattison’s Restaurants and Catering, will host a six-course Benziger Family Winery Dinner to benefit the Niman Ranch Next Generation Scholarship program. This exclusive dinner, featuring the portfolio of Benziger wines, will be held at Mattison’s Forty-One, 7275 South Tamiami Trl., Sarasota at 6:30pm on Wednesday, August 28. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Niman Ranch Next Generation Scholarship Foundation.

The scholarship is designed to raise awareness around the loss of traditional farming and ranching practices, and to ultimately offer agriculture opportunities and funding for students pursuing their education in farming related fields so they are able to return to their family farms with a viable way of supporting themselves and sustaining their farms and families. Niman Ranch believes in sustainable and environmentally friendly practices with a strong focus on humane treatment of animals and clean food production. Special guest, hog farmer and past scholarship recipient, Aaron Williams, will be attending to share his story and explain the importance of the program. 

Niman Ranch Next Generation Scholarship Dinner

The New College Foundation, the philanthropic organization supporting New College of Florida, has announced the appointment of five new members to its board of directors.

Glenn P. Hendrix, a 1981 graduate of New College, is chair of Arnall, Golden & Gregory, LLP, in Atlanta. He is the founding president of the Atlanta International Arbitration Society and active in the American Bar Association, presently serving as the ABA’s representative to the U.S. State Department's Advisory Committee on International Law. Steve Jacobson is a 1975 graduate of New College and chair of the New College Alumni Association Board. He is currently employed at Northwestern University as a cryogenics engineer. George Quarterman, owner of a State Farm Insurance and Financial Services office in Sarasota, has 28 years of experience providing insurance and financial services. John F. “Jack” Schlegel served as the chief executive officer of three major national associations in health care before becoming a consultant with experience in strategic planning, board orientation, leadership and management development, organizational assessment and more. Henry Smyth, who graduated from New College in 1981, is director and investment manager for Granville Cooper Gold Fund II, Ltd. He resides in the Bahamas. 

New College Foundation