North Venice’s PGT Innovations gathered more than 25 team members and leaders together to assemble and deliver SchoolTools backpacks. For the 10th consecutive year, PGT Innovations has donated backpacks and school supplies through World Vision, a global Christian relief organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

With $6,000 of contributions this year, employees of PGTI filled 250 backpacks with notes of encouragement and supplies, including notebooks, binders, pens, pencils, packs of filler paper, pencil pouches, folders, pencil sharpeners, erasers, rulers, crayons, glue sticks, scissors and markers. PGTI then delivered the backpacks to students at Garden Elementary in Sarasota County for the school year. 

While a simple effort, new school supplies inspire and encourage children to engage in learning and invokes creativity. “Thank you so much to PGT Innovations and World Vision for their generosity,” says Amy Archer, Principal at Garden Elementary, during the donation event. “We are so incredibly blessed to live in a community that supports the work we do.” 

Pictured: PGT Innovations' Mike Suprata, Amie Brooks, Kristin Lewis, Julie Suprata, Chris Triana, Yessie Munoz, Susan Roy, David Greenwald and Trish McConnell and Mary Garcia with World Vision.

PGT Innovations

Fyzical Bradenton and Ellenton, a physical therapy balance, dizziness and healthy lifestyle practice launched a fall prevention awareness initiative this past week on National Falls Prevention Awareness Day called "Fight the Fall" around the importance of reducing fall risks for the community's older population. The National Council on Aging and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites that one in four adults over the age of 65 falls, and the risk of falling increases with age and that falls account for 40 percent of all nursing home admissions. During the first 30 days of Fall (September 23 to October 22), the Bradenton and Ellenton FYZICAL team will offer free fall risk assessments. At FYZICAL, fall prevention is the cornerstone of their mission.  

Fyzical Bradenton

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has appointed Nicole Light as the Education Officer of Community Impact, a new role designed to further develop and enhance the foundation’s support for educational opportunities across the community. Light, a former Sarasota County Schools teacher, will oversee the education-based projects and initiatives that the Community Foundation supports, particularly our two-generation approach to Sarasota County efforts for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, an initiative to improve school readiness and literacy and to prevent summer learning loss. Light will work closely with Kirsten Russell, Vice President of Community Impact. Light has spent the last 18 years of her professional career as a high school English teacher in both Manatee and Sarasota County Schools, with her most recent teaching experience at Pine View School, where she spent 15 years teaching 10th grade Honors English and Advanced Placement Literature. 

More info

Gulf Coast Community Foundation has released a “teaser” video to softly launch the foundation’s celebration of its 25th year in operation. The video features original artwork created by Sarasota artist Tim Jaeger to highlight key community-issue areas in which Gulf Coast’s donors and nonprofit partners have been making a difference for nearly a quarter century. It culminates with the reveal of a special Gulf Coast 25th anniversary logo. The foundation was created in September 1995 through the sale of The Venice Hospital. Over the next 12 months, Gulf Coast plans to highlight the impact of its donors, partners, and collaborative regional initiatives, leading up to the foundation’s “25th birthday” next September. “This anniversary is all about honoring our past and inspiring our future,” said Gulf Coast Community Foundation President/CEO Mark Pritchett. “In many senses, it’s business as usual this year for Gulf Coast, as we continue to advance our brand of bold and proactive philanthropy. But we also want to mark this milestone year by recognizing everyone who helps make that philanthropy possible and celebrating why we our better together as a community.”

To view Gulf Coast’s 25th anniversary teaser video, go here. 

See the Video

Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County alumna Leonela Tase Sueiro, 18, will compete for the National Boys & Girls Clubs of America Youth of the Year title at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, September 25. Leonela is one of six finalists from Boys & Girls Clubs across the nation competing for this prestigious honor. Becoming National Youth of the Year is an exciting and inspiring journey. Since 1947, Youth of the Year has been the premier recognition program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America that fosters a new generation of leaders, fully prepared to live and lead in a diverse, global and integrated world economy. The program celebrates the extraordinary achievements of Club members throughout the United States. Over the decades, these outstanding teens have exemplified the Boys & Girls Clubs mission and are proof to the impact the Clubs make in transforming lives.  If Leonela is named National Youth of the Year, she will serve as the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s official teen spokesperson for the next year, receive academic scholarships and have opportunities for life-changing experiences such as networking with celebrity alumni, securing internships with national partners, speaking at national conferences and meeting the country’s top leaders and elected officials. Leonela gradatued from Riverview High School this past May and is currently a freshman at The George Washington University pursuing a degree in psychology. She moved from Cuba to the United States with her family when she was 11 years old, which is when she found the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. 

Bank of America Brunch on the Bay helps USFSM graduates foster a cycle of growth in the region

Whether helping University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee graduates find jobs or serving as an instructor in the classroom, alumnus Pete Petersen is quick to support his alma mater.

The 2015 USFSM graduate is the CEO of auto dealership services provider Dealers United. He says that giving back leads to long-term dividends. His support helps position students to meet workforce demand for well-trained employees, ensuring a bright future for graduates and their families. It also fosters a cycle of growth in which current and future students support businesses, schools and the local community.

Petersen understands the importance of keeping home-grown talent here, which is one of the reasons he’s co-chairing this year’s Bank of America Brunch on the Bay, USF Sarasota-Manatee’s signature scholarship fundraiser.

Held each November – this year’s event is Nov. 3 on USFSM’s scenic campus – Bank of America Brunch on the Bay kicks off the social season in the region with a celebration that includes fine cuisine from some of the top restaurants and caterers in the region. 

Petersen is asking businesses to stand with him this November to support college scholarships.

“As a business owner, the hardest thing I struggle with is access to talent, and to find someone talented who already lives in this area and wants to stay and invest in this community, that is so important to my business,” he said. “USFSM is a tight-knit community and because of the culture grads tend to become even more invested in the community. For me, or for any business owner, it’s critically important to support that.”

For more about Bank of America Brunch on the Bay, visit usfsm.edu/brunch. 

Brunch on the Bay

Bradenton's Brianna Gonzalez, a Yeoman Seaman Recruit, is photographed by U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist, 3rd Class, Zachary DiPadova, as she participates in the E-4 Navy-wide Advancement Exam. Here, she is seen on board the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), anchored in its homeport of San Diego.  

Photo courtesy of the Navy Office of Community Outreach.

Angel Colonneso, the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, was recently appointed by the Florida Supreme Court to serve on the Florida Courts Technology Commission, a standing Supreme Court commission. The Florida Courts Technology Commission oversees, manages and directs the development and use of technology within the judicial branch under the direction of the Florida Supreme Court. The 25-member Florida Courts Technology Commission also coordinates and reviews recommendations with regard to all court policy matters relating to the use of technology in support of the effective administration of justice.  This year, Colonneso was elected and sworn in as the vice president for the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers, the statewide, nonprofit member association comprised of the Florida Clerks of the Circuit Court and Comptrollers. Florida Senate President Bill Galvano also recently appointed Colonneso to serve on the Executive Council of the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation with nine other council members, who will discuss and make decisions regarding Clerks of Court Operation Corporation business and budgetary matters. 

The Van Wezel Foundation has announced expansion of its board of directors and the election of chair Jim Travers. This new leadership sets the stage for the Foundation as it enters a new chapter and extends its mission: to create a world-class performing arts center that enriches the community, supports arts education and inspires young minds. Travers is a senior technology executive, having built high-growth technology companies in the public and private sectors over the course of his 35-year career. Most recently, Travers served as Chairman and CEO of Fleetmatics, Inc., a global software service company that was purchased by Verizon in 2016.

Newly elected board members include Ali Bahaj, former Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, who will serve as Governance Committee Chair; Vern Chalfant, former Executive Chairman and CEO of McLarens Global Limited, who will serve on the Strategic Planning Committee; Jenne Brittel, Ph.D., former Chairman of United Rentals; and Chad Campbell, Regional President of BMO Harris Bank. The remaining board members will continue their service, including Vice-Chair Mike Martella, Gerald Biller, Brian Ellerson, Mark Famiglio, David Koffman, Elaine McClure, Karl Newkirk, Sharyn Weiner and Michael Wilson. Ex officio board members will be Mary Bensel, Executive Director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and Cheryl Mendelson, CEO of the Van Wezel Foundation.   

Van Wezel Foundation