Cooking for Wishes, Make-A-Wish Southern Florida’s showcase event in Sarasota, took place last Tuesday at Michael’s on East. At this interactive cooking luncheon, guests at tables of eight were able to prepare a one-of-a-kind four-course meal led by Chef Jamil Piñeda and Phil Mancini of Michael’s on East, and enjoy specially-selected wines, curated by co-proprietor, Michale Klauber.

More than 250 people attended the event that featured live and silent auctions, raffle prizes, and the touching story of a child whose life was changed forever by a wish to go to Hawaii with her family. More than $400,000 was raised, enough to grant 50 life-changing wishes for critically-ill children on the Suncoast.

"The wishes we grant aren’t just nice, they’re necessary," says Taylor Marini, Regional Director, Make-A-Wish®Southern Florida. "Research shows the anticipation of a wish and the memories made during them can have a positive and significant impact on the health and well-beingof the children, families, and extended networks we reach.”

Make-A-Wish Southern Florida has granted more than 13,000 life-changing wishes since 1983 for children who have critical illnesses. The Southern Florida chapter’s territory includes 22 counties/four regions: the Suncoast (Sarasota, Manatee and surrounding counties), Tampa Bay, southeast and southwest Florida. It also includes the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Pictured: Creative meal preparation at 'Cooking for Wishes' interactive cooking luncheon.

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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.

The Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (Consortium) recently awarded Education Foundation of Sarasota County $90,252.82 in matching funds through the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program.  This Consortium grant supports the Education Foundation’s project titled “Inspiring Success with College, Career, Life Readiness.” This project supports Sarasota County Schools students grade 6 – 12 during the 2021 – 2022 school year. The Education Foundation is committed to instilling a college, career, life readiness mindset in students and to supporting students as they develop a plan for life after high school.

In middle school, students access college- and career-planning software that helps them identify their strengths and interests and map both to possible careers. In high school, students can access Education Foundation Student Success Centers at four area high schools and at a standalone resource center in downtown Sarasota, where they work one-on-one with expert College Career Advisors to identify purpose and pathways and ultimately formulate a plan. At these Student Success Centers, students can access workshops, open houses, college and career fairs, and other valuable resources that help at every step of the college and career search process. Students can also access software to manage college applications and search for potential careers. This grant also supports mentoring for those students who need extra support in the process of applying for education after high school. The Education Foundation supports students and helps instill a mindset of readiness so that young people find their purpose. When students find purpose, they aremore likely to progress intentionally through high school. They are more likely to live fulfilling, successful lives. These efforts help ensure a thriving community and state. They align with the Florida legislature’s Sail to 60 initiative, which seeks to ensure that 60% of working-age Floridians obtain a high-value postsecondary certificate, degree, or training experience by 2030. 

Pictured: Bright Futures completion day at North Port High School Student Success Center.

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SRQ MEDIA recognizes nonprofits who have the ability to lean into change in the face of either challenge or opportunity. The Change Agents in Philanthropy Awards focus on the capacity of the independent sector to be innovative in the face of change in fundraising, donor cultivation and development, mission, programming, branding and visibility and operations. We invite the community to nominate local nonprofits, local nonprofit programs and individuals who have embraced change and leveraged innovative thinking, strategies and practices in engaging their organization to more powerfully realize its mission.

The Change Agent Catalyst organizations who will be represented in the panel discussion at the SB2 | Transformation in Philanthropy Luncheon on Thursday, March 10, 2022 are: All Faiths Food Bank; Children First; Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson’s; Resilient Retreat; Education Foundation of Sarasota County. Every week leading up to the event, we will highlight one of our incredible panelists and his/her organization.

Today, we are pleased to highlight Lisa Intagliata, CFRE, the Executive Director of Resilient Retreat. Over the past thirty years, Lisa has worked in the fund development field for nonprofit organizations primarily in the areas of healthcare and higher education. She has an extensive background in non- profit management including Annual, Major Gift, Corporate, Capital Campaign and Event fundraising. Lisa is a graduate of the Leadership Sarasota program and is on the Board of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a Certified Fundraising Executive and a Certified Trauma Professional. Lisa is dedicated to creating a healing environment at Resilient Retreat where people feel culturally, emotionally and physically safe. 

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On March 3, the Power to Care effort will bring 25 FPL employee volunteers, friends, and family members to Children First’s main campus, 1723 N Orange Ave. in Sarasota, to build a butterfly garden for students, faculty, and staff to enjoy and improve the area’s landscaping. The volunteer corps is scheduled to arrive at 8 a.m. and conclude the project by noon. Children First is the exclusive provider of Early Head Start and Head Start services for Sarasota County and offers comprehensive services at 15 different sites.The butterfly project will extend UWS’ work with both FPL and Children First. As a UWS partner, Children First received $165,000 in grant support from UWS’ Community Investment Fund for the 2021 fiscal year. Children First enhances the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of children through Early Start (birth to 3) and Head Start (3-5), achievements that dovetail with one of UWS’ primary focuses: early learning.

“These investments from our community partners at United Way Suncoast and Florida Power & Light continue to make a critical impact on those we serve. We are deeply appreciative to be included in Power to Care Week and bring awareness to our mission of strengthening our community’s most vulnerable children and families,” says Children First CEO Philip Tavill. 

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The Sarasota Concert Association is proud to present the Takács Quartet with Grammy award-nominated pianist Joyce Yang for a one night only performance at Riverview Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 7:30 PM. The program includes Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet. The Takács Quartet is now in its 47th season with artists Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, both on violin, Richard O’Neill on viola and András Fejér on cello. They perform world-wide and are recording artists for Hyperion Records. The Takács Quartet members hold prestigious appointments as Christoffersen Faculty Fellows, based at the University of Colorado and are again serving as Associate Artists at London’s Wigmore Hall for their 2021-2022 season. In addition to their four performances this season at London’s Wigmore Hall, they also have performed at other venues in the UK and the Paris Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus, and Teatro della Pergola in Florence. Their North American tour includes performances in New York, Washington DC, Princeton, Ann Arbor, Berkeley, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Portland, in addition to Sarasota. The Takács Quartet members collaborate with theatre artists, writers, conservatories, and music programs world-wide to offer innovative programming. They use their expertise in music to curate string programs for emerging artists that concentrate on chamber music, such as the one at the University of Colorado. In 2018 at the Edinburgh Festival, Marc André Hamelin referred to them as “Chamber Music Royalty” on the performance website Bachtrack. 

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