For 23 years, Judy Alexander, founder of Every Child Sarasota has made it her mission to help as many underprivileged children as possible. This spring, with a little help from some very generous friends, she was able to make a dream come true for several young ladies who might not have ever imagined attending their high-school prom due to their family's financial situation. On March 17 & 18, 2022 from 10 am - 2 pm, underprivileged girls felt very privileged to come to the Carlisle Inn, 3727 Bahia Vista Street and chose a dress, jewelry, a purse, and shoes to wear to their prom and keep forever.

Judy formed Every Child, Inc. 23 years ago with the goal of providing backpacks filled with school supplies to underprivileged children. Since its inception, thousands of children have received backpacks. In 2008, when Judy heard that young girls couldn’t go to prom because they didn’t have gowns, she knew she wanted to help again. Her friend Teresa Gutierrez who works at The Perfect Dress called Judy to let her know that the owners of the shop, Vicki Sack, Kim Frazer and Trillian Sack wanted to donate dresses. Other generous donors soon joined in by contributing new or gently used dresses, shoes, purses and jewelry. And the rest is history.

CoreSRQ, Inc., a Sarasota non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in our community through family fitness and recreation centers proudly partnered with Every Child for this year’s return of the Cinderella Project by helping with advertising for donations by reaching out to their member base. Pamela Peters, Event Coordinator at CoreSRQ was thrilled with the reults. "We have over 4,500 members and each one contriubuted something to this event," she said.

The Carlisle Inn performed like a department store for the girls by offering up a room to shop shoes, jewelry, gowns, and of course fitting rooms with full-length mirrors. There were many volunteers, known as “Fairy Godmothers” working the room (these are often the same volunteers who return year after year because they have so much fun) who helped the girls choose their "just right" outfit. The finishing touch was provided by Regina McDermott, Senior Sales Director with Mary Kay cosmetics who helped with matching the perfect shade of makeup for each girl. The Cinderella Project has helped hundreds of kids year after year and Judy hopes to keep it going for many more to come. “Now more than ever," she says "it’s important to bring hope and inspiration to the future leaders of our community!” 

Pictured: Judy Alexander (left) and Pamela Peters (right) help a Lakewood Ranch High School student find her perfect prom outfit. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation has announced the promotion of Jennifer Johnston to Director of Community Leadership, and welcomes Dr. Kameron Partridge Hodgens as she joins the community leadership team to serve side by side with Johnston as a Director of Community Leadership. The move reinforces Gulf Coast’s leadership position to serve the community and advance its mission. In their new roles they will focus on developing and stewarding strategic initiatives that create long-term systemic improvements and regional transformation. Johnston has served on the community leadership team since 2017, working closely with Senior Vice President for Community Leadership Jon Thaxton on critical initiatives fueled by research- driven Regional Scans. She leads the Here4YOUth Mental Health initiative together with Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, and drives change to positively influence the long-term health and wellbeing of our region. Johnston’s background is in public health, and she received her Master of Public Health (M.P.H) from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Kameron Partridge Hodgens joins Gulf Coast from The Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center where she served as the CEO|Executive Director since 2014. In her role, she was responsible for the management of the five-acre campus that houses regional nonprofit partners, fundraising efforts for the sustainability of the organizational mission, vision, and values, as well as overall strategic planning. She received her Masters and Ph.D. in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from University of Alabama at Birmingham, and brings a breadth of knowledge in the areas of health and human services, and public policy influence. 

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Volunteers will be accepting donations of food when the Orioles host the Rays for spring training at Ed Smith Stadium at 1:05 p.m. on March 30. Look for Mayors’ Feed the Hungry partners at each entrance and at the community booth on the concourse. The Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program coordinates with churches and food pantries throughout Sarasota and Manatee counties. The program also works with agencies that serve children in low-income families, survivors of domestic violence, and the elderly. Please consider bringing a donation to support the efforts. The Orioles will donate the proceeds from the speed pitch machine on the concourse to the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program, so test out your skills for a good cause! The team will also let kids run the bases, which doesn’t raise money for the hungry but is another incentive to come out and cheer on the Orioles and the Rays. Remember, you can help the hungry year-round by donating online! Visit FlanzerTrust.org and
choose the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program when you make your donation to raise matching funds from the Flanzer Trust. 

The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation Q2 Small and Mighty (SAM) Grants Cycle opens April 1 and will close at 3:59 p.m. on May 1. The Grant Portal will be open until that time for area not-for-profit organizations to create an account and access existing accounts as they begin the application process. The Selby Foundation will notify grant recipients of awards by June 30. This program was developed to meet the needs of small-scale, non-profit organizations within our community (Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties), and be responsive and reactive to those needs.
To qualify for this program, organizations must have been in operation for more than a year and have less than $300,000 in annual operating expenses. Additionally, the request must be for a
capital expenditure(s). The Foundation specializes in supporting local area not-for-profits with capital grants which support construction, acquisition and/or renovation of facilities as well as the purchase of equipment or software. Grants requests may also include the costs of related technical services like legal, architectural and engineering. Not-for-profit organizations are required to be primarily located in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee or Sarasota Counties. The Selby Foundation is a private foundation founded by William G. and Marie Selby in 1955. The Foundation supports Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties through capital grants and scholarships. Since its establishment, the Selby Foundation has provided more than $120 million to the community. For more information on the Foundation’s grant and scholarship application process, including the newly established Small and Mighty Grants program, visit www.selbyfdn.org. 

Kerkering, Barberio & Co., Certified Public Accountants, is pleased to announce that the Sarasota accounting firm has been ranked by Accounting Today as a 2021 Regional Leader for the Gulf Coast. Firms from across Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi comprise the region, which experienced an average firm growth rate of 14.35% for 2021. Accounting Today is the leading information resource for public accountants, reaching over 325,000 professionals across the full breadth of public accounting. Each year, the publication ranks the largest practices in tax and accounting, both nationwide and in 10 major geographic regions.

Kerkering, Barberio & Co. is one of the largest independent certified public accounting firms in Southwest Florida and offers a wide range of services to businesses, organizations, and individuals. The firm has been serving clients since 1972. Kerkering, Barberio & Co. has three locations: 1990 Main Street, Suite 801, Sarasota, FL; 9423 Town Center Parkway, Lakewood Ranch, FL; and 4350 West Cypress Street, Suite 850, Tampa, FL. For more information, visit kbgrp.com or Facebook.com/KBGRP. 

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training wraps up its 2021-22 season with William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Adapted and directed by Jonathan Epstein, and with original music by Daniel Levy, the show runs April 6 – 24, with a pay-what-you-can preview on April 5.

Shakespeare’s beloved romantic comedy of (mis)identity begins with twins being shipwrecked. The young woman, believing her twin brother dead, disguises herself as a boy for her own safety. But she finds herself playing go-between for the beautiful countess Olivia and Count Orsino, with whom she herself has fallen in love! When her brother reappears, identities are mistaken, and chaos abounds. Full of some of Shakespeare’s most glorious characters, this masterwork is performed by the entire second year FSU/Asolo Conservatory company. Twelfth Night plays April 5 – 24 in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $32 and are available online at asolorep.org/events/detail/twelfthnight, by phone at 941.351.8000 or in person at the Asolo Rep Box Office at 5555 N. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Student prices are also available. 

SRQ MEDIA is thrilled to announce the launch of our first video podcast: In Conversation | Perspectives in Medicine!

In our second episode, we sat down with Dr. Danielle Babb of Ramos Center for Interventional & Functional Pain Medicine. Dr. Babb shared with us how she got into pain medicine, as well as what it's like working with her patients and their families.

Click here to watch or listen!