As classes return in most of Sarasota County, philanthropists aim to help a system impacted by Hurricane Ian to bounce back from the storm.

The Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation announced $230,000 in immediate relief for schools in the region, with $200,000 going into a fund for the Sarasota County School District and the remaining $30,000 helping DeSoto County schools. That’s part of $644,000 in storm relief funding announced by the Sarasota-based foundation.

“With our critical focus on education, we knew we wanted to target teachers,” said Teri A Hansen, president and CEO of the Barancik Foundation. “We have seen so much disruption in learning since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to do everything we can to minimize the further impact on our students from Hurricane Ian.”

Sarasota County was among five school districts in Florida unable to reopen between the days ahead of Hurricane Ian’s Lee County Sept. 28 landfall and now. Today, most of the schools in the county will re-open, including every school from Venice north. But a dozen schools do not plan to re-open until Oct. 17, including: Atwater Elementary, Cranberry Elementary, Englewood Elementary, Glenallen Elementary, Lamarque Elementary, Toledo Blade Elementary, Heron Creek Middle, Woodland Middle, North Port High, Suncoast Technical College’s North Port campus and charter schools Island Village Montessori and SKY Englewood.

School Superintendent Brennan Asplin released a video message stressing the importance of reopening schools while also assisting those in the community impacted directly by the hurricane.  

“We are now faced with arguably our biggest challenge— rebuilding our community,” he said in a video message. “Many of our friends and neighbors are hurting right now. Our children need the normalcy of school, and our families need time to settle back into their routines.”

A resource page has been set up by the school district to address questions and provide links to financial resources. There will also be a hurricane storm relief event for employees of the Sarasota County schools held at Suncoast Technical College’s North Port campus on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Image courtesy Sarasota County Schools.

The Fifth Third Foundation has contributed $500,000 to support relief efforts for those impacted by Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 28. Jim Weiss, regional president of Fifth Third Bank (South Florida), said the $500,000 donation to five local organizations aims at bringing relief to the people impacted and the thousands who continue to grapple in the aftermath of the tragedy. In addition, Fifth Third Bank has deployed its Fifth Third Financial Empowerment Mobile, or eBus, to assist the people of Florida. In partnership with the city of Fort Myers and the Southwest Florida Enterprise Center, Bank staff will accompany the eBus to help residents apply for aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), for Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (DSNAP) and other emergency and basic need resources, including water. Loan hardship assistance will also be available. The Foundation’s funds will be split between the following organizations: $250,000 to United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades Counties; $100,000 to United Way of Collier and the Keys; $75,000 to Lee Memorial Health System Foundation, $50,000 to United Way of South Sarasota County, and $25,000 to United Way of Charlotte County. The eBus will be at 3903 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Fort Myers on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Red Cross has created a special Fifth Third microsite to make it easy for employees, customers and communities to contribute to the support and recovery efforts. The site includes additional information on how to give. We are standing with them to recover and rebuild. The Fifth Third Cares Fund is available to help Bank employees impacted by Hurricane Ian. The fund was established a decade ago and designed to provide short-term emergency support to Fifth Third Bank employees or eligible dependents who are facing serious financial hardship because of a natural disaster, and who cannot afford housing, utilities and other basic living expenses. The Fund also allows Bank employees the opportunity to participate in this effort by contributing to the fund in support of colleagues who may experience such a hardship. 

Lost Pet Services, Inc. (LPS) is helping reunite hundreds of pets lost from Hurricane Ian in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. LPS is a local safety-net 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reuniting lost pets and helping those in financial need of medical services. In the last five days over 60 pets have been reunited but more need our help. LPS has reunited cats, dogs, pigs, tortoises, goats, horses, cows, possums, lizards, snakes, rabbits, or any animal that's lost, they will help. Lost Pet Services (LPS) provides enormous exposure on their Facebook group, Lost and Found Pets 941 (Lost Pet Services) with over 43,600 local member followers helping to share posts and make matches. They cover Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte counties and work closely with first responders, shelters, local veterinarians, and animal welfare organizations. Lost Pet Services will provide a free flyer for every pet when a lost pet report is completed. All information is sent directly to the local county shelters on behalf of the owner or finder. If an owner or finder is unable to print flyers, LPS will have them printed at no charge to the owner or finder. LPS has local volunteers across three counties with microchip scanners to scan found pets as well. You can send in a lost/found pet report to: https://www.lostfoundpets941.com/lost-pet-report. LPS is currently accepting donations for medical needs assistance here: https://www.lostfoundpets941.com/donate-lost-pets. 

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Eliza and Hugh Culverhouse stepped forward quickly to jump start the SMH Employees Hurricane Relief Fund with their $250,000 gift. Their hope is to inspire others to support the dedicated staff at Sarasota Memorial (SMH) who went to work, 24/7 to care for our community during this disaster. The Healthcare Foundation established the fund to help ease the financial burden facing SMH employees impacted by Hurricane Ian. Of the health system’s 8000+ employees, nearly 25% live in the most hard-hit areas of south Sarasota County and the surrounding region. “Learning that over 2,000 staff members, nurses and physicians left their families and homes behind to care for the community was heartbreaking,” Mrs. Culverhouse said. “The fact that many of them went home to nothing or faced unfathomable financial hardship was almost incomprehensible--we had to help.”  The Healthcare Foundation is also extremely grateful for a $200,000 grant just received from Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. “Getting SMH employees help and getting them back to normal is one of the most important things we can do right now,” said Barancik Foundation president/CEO Teri A Hansen. A donation to the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation SMH Employee Hurricane Relief Fund can be made on our website, smhf.org/ian, or by calling 941.917.1286. 

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) is pleased to announce that two new staff members have joined the theatre’s expanding team. Alex Price is FST’s new Production Manager, taking over responsibilities from the theatre’s previous Director of Production, Bruce Price, who worked at FST for 20 years. Jay Lockaby has joined FST’s Development department as Major Gifts Officer. These new additions come at an exciting time in FST’s history, with a full 2022-2023 Winter Season opening this week, and the theatre’s largest expansion project—The Mulva Arts Plaza, a twelve-story building that will enable FST to meet its growing needs. Alex Price joined the FST team in 2021 as Associate Production Manager under the tutelage of the theatre’s previous Director of Production, Bruce Price. Before moving to Sarasota, Price served as the Managing Artistic Director of The Round Barn Theatre in Indiana, where he directed, set-designed, and oversaw the technical aspects of multiple productions, including the World Premiere of When Calls The Heart The Musical. He is also the Founding Artistic Director of The 574 Theatre Company, where he directed and produced Into the Woods – A Deaf Theatre Project, which was performed simultaneously in American Sign Language (ASL) and English. This was the first production of Into the Woods to be performed in ASL. Jay Lockaby, who started working as Major Gifts Officer at Sarasota’s Contemporary Theatre in mid-September, has lived in the Sarasota-Manatee area since 2003. Before joining FST’s staff, he worked as a fundraising consultant with Ghiorsi & Sorrenti, Inc., guiding health care organizations and other non-profit organizations in implementing successful capital campaigns. For fourteen years, Lockaby worked with the Cancer Support Community (CSC), spending seven years as President & CEO of a successful local chapter and seven years as Senior Vice President for Affiliate Relations and Strategic Growth at the organization’s international headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota presents three concerts in November, each kicking off the first in their series. Bass to Bass, in the Lighter Fare Series, features John Miller and Michael Ross on November 9 at Plantation Golf & Country Club. SYBARITE5 opens the Tuesdays at the Historic Asolo Theater Series on November 15. The Soirée Series, presented in an intimate one-of-a-kind residential music room, begins with tenor John Kaneklides and pianist Joseph Holt on November 20 and 21. For more information and tickets, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or call (941) 306-1202. 

Pictured: SYBARITE5 brings the art of the dance center stage for an evening of groove and dance-inspired works.