After meeting virtually for the past two years, the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading came together for their first in-person community update breakfast Tuesday morning at GROVE in Lakewood Ranch. Lead partners and community members gathered together to connect and strengthen their resolve to help children from birth through third grade, especially those from asset-limited families, succeed in life by ensuring they read on grade level.

Beth Duda, director of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading opened the program by asking everyone to keep in their minds and hearts our neighbors who have suffered after Hurricane Ian. She welcomed the donation of gift cards to be distributed with families who are struggling and shared opportunities to contribute to disaster relief. She noted that the families facing the greatest challenges right now are also the families who have had two years of learning disrupted because of Covid 19 and that although third-grade reading scores had improved a few years ago, the pandemic and disruption it caused are reflected in the most recent scores, which are lower. She encouraged individuals, businesses, nonprofits, schools, housing authorities, government and the media to work together to help lift our students to the success they deserve.

The power of video was then used to present twin sisters, Niavy and Janeli Griffith, students at Ashton Elementary School. The girls proudly announced that they are ‘fantastic readers' because for the past two years, they participated in THIS BOOK IS COOL, a series of 100 webisodes designed to encourage a love of reading. It premiered on June 1, 2020, and since then, thousands of children from across the Suncoast region have qualified to receive free books thanks to the generosity of The Patterson Foundation. In 2022, 3,220 kids participated and combined, they read 89,721 books.

After the video presentation, keynote speaker, Ralph Smith, Managing Director for Campaign for Grade-Level Reading took the stage. He spoke about the fact that today, we have far more children stranded on the wrong side of an achievement gap. “The pandemic didn’t cause the gap, but it contributed to it and made it worse,” he said. He talked about the layering of disasters upon economically-challenged families as a “slow-moving disaster” referring to all of the challenges these families are facing, including the pandemic, climate disasters and the latest hurricane. “Kids of challenged families need services, support and care that are 24/7, 365 and multigenerational,” he said. “Schools are not the solution. We’ve got to broaden our aperture and get communities involved in and leading the effort.” He acknowledged the unique work of the partnerships involved--The Community Foundation of Sarasota County, The Patterson Foundation, United Way Suncoast and United Way of Charlotte County–which together create a set of relationships that become networks and webs through which community is built and the foundation for which community resilience is set. ”What we are doing is helping us commit to the generational imperative to do what we can to build a community that will leave to the next generation a democracy that works to solve problems, a world with good air to breathe, a world that can accommodate migration and refugees, a world that can solve the climate challenge, and a world that is worthy of the children of which we profess to care.”

After a group singalong of “This Little Light of Mine,” President and CEO of the Patterson Foundation, Debra Jacobs briefly spoke. “You are part of every child in our region's future,” she said. “Thank you for giving and using your gifts the way you do.” 

Pictured: Keynote Speaker Ralph Smith, Managing Director, Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

Hurricane Ian ended playground time at 19 Sarasota County preschools.

Mostly because of destroyed fencing, playground equipment remains unusable for the moment. Damage hit the area thanks to winds and rain connected to the Category 4 hurricane, which made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sept. 28. But a partnership between the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County should restore facilities soon. The Barancik Foundation will provide $50,000 to keep the outdoor play opportunities available to the region’s youngest citizens.

“Schools and teachers of all varieties have been through so much disruption in the last few years that Barancik Foundation has made returning classrooms – and playgrounds – to normal a priority in the wake of the storm,” said Teri A Hansen, Barancik Foundation president and CEO.

The construction community also made valuable contributions to the effort. Willis A. Smith Construction, one of the leading builders for education facilities in the area, connected the foundation and coalition with Starline Multiservices, a Pasco County-based cleaning and restoration specialist.

Janet Kahn, CEO of the Early Learning Coalition, said the contributions by Starline proved invaluable.

“We would like to commend Carlos Yeguez of Starline Multiservices for his compassion and cooperation in putting the needs of our littlest learners center stage,” Kahn said. “Despite his company’s full plate, he has dedicated a team to this widespread preschool effort. We are grateful for his initiative, focus and speed in getting our little ones back on the playground.”

The foundation stressed in an announcement the value of outdoor play in child development, helping children improve gross motor skills and activating senses while also providing an environment where young people must learn to behave and respect one another.

Foundation officials said they play to continue to watch the restoration of playgrounds and preschools, and are committed to helping the region with long-time recovery.  

Photo courtesy Barancik Foundation

In the October 2022 edition of SRQ Magazine, we interviewed Elizabeth Fisher Good, CEO/Founder of The Foundation United as part of our In Conversation feature in which she discussed her foundation’s work in eradicating sexual abuse and exploitation locally and globally. Below is an excerpt published in the magazine in which she shares her insights with SRQ readers.

It feels like the issue of sex trafficking and sex abuse has become more public. That people have become more publicly aware of it due to high profile situations like Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, R Kelly. 

I could tell you for the last 12 years, I've been in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune. I've been on television, radio, Fox News…practically screaming it and finally, like you said, they're hearing it a little bit. Because we had Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. But, what happened then? It still was buried in a week. It's very, very interesting how few people care. I think you have the victims' side of it and those people that were abused, care. And then, you have the fact that, I think the stat now is up to 70% of men or women, will consume pornography as a form of sex trafficking. Every time we have a trafficking ring bust, and there's a pastor in it, a teacher in it, a father in it, they always say, "I don't know how I got here. I never would've bought a child." But, it's a progressive addiction. And, the research is telling us that it is rewiring our children's neural pathways. They are being rewired to systemically not be capable of forming intimacy. It's such a different world. So, I think we're finally getting a little bit of attention.

https://issuu.com/srqme/docs/srqsheroars22_compiled_flipbook?fr=sZmMwYTU0MTY5Mjg

The Everglades University – Sarasota Campus recently partnered with Goodwill Manasota and its Veterans Services program to collect items to benefit homeless veterans. The Everglades University donation drive – which ran from mid-August through mid-September – resulted in the collection of items such as socks, T-shirts, canned food, Slim Jims, trail mix and other snacks, mini water bottles, combs, deodorant and more; these items are being packed into backpacks and distributed to homeless veterans served by Goodwill’s American Veterans and Their Families program. At Everglades University, students, staff and faculty choose a nonprofit to support each month. The veteran-serving charitable effort is a particularly good fit for the campus: Everglades University is a yellow ribbon school, serving many veterans who are on campus getting their education after serving our country. The partnership was cemented after school representatives visited the Veterans Services program office a handful of years ago and heard how Goodwill works to address critical needs of the local veteran population. Goodwill’s Veterans Services program works to help eliminate barriers to employment, provide opportunities for higher-paying positions for veterans and their families, and connect veterans with needed social services. It also offers networking opportunities and emergency financial assistance – which is particularly important for veterans without housing or at risk of becoming homeless. 

Pictured: Sydney Pollock, director of student services for Everglades University - Sarasota Campus, with Todd Hughes, Goodwill's American Veterans and Their Families program manager

The Paradise Center, Longboat Key’s only senior community center catering to the health and wellness of island residents and visitors year-round, has put their fall programming
in place in anticipation of a busier-than-ever season. “If the last few weeks are any indication, we are in for a very busy fall and winter. Our 2022 attendance is already our highest ever! Many new visitors and residents in our community are looking for things to do and places to go for social engagement, physical wellbeing and mental stimulation,” remarks The Paradise Center’s Executive Director Suzy Brenner. “We have a variety of classes and events designed with seniors in mind, but everyone is welcome!” The Paradise Center is located at 546 Bay Isles Road, LBK (across from the Longboat Library). Most programs are FREE for members or $10/person for non-members. Walk-ins are welcome to all fitness classes, but some programs require advance registration. More info can be found at TheParadiseCenter.org or call 941-383-6493. 

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) kicks off its 49th Winter Mainstage Series with Something Rotten!, a hit musical comedy that was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical. With Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell and Music & Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, Something Rotten! is a humorous mashup of 16th century Shakespeare and 21st century Broadway. Something Rotten! begins playing November 9 in FST’s Gompertz Theatre. Something Rotten! is part of a four-show subscription package. Also included in the Winter Mainstage subscription package is the Florida Premiere of What the Constitution Means to Me, the thought-provoking drama Network, and the World Premiere of Visit Joe Whitefeather (and bring the family!). Subscriptions for all four Winter Mainstage shows can be purchased for as little as $69, and single tickets for Something Rotten! range from $29-49. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or at 941.366.9000. 

THROUGH THE LOOKING CLASS | Louis Tiffany's stained glass is shown in a new light at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Take a closer look at Selby’s upcoming The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature exhibit through this link, on our social media, or in the October edition of SRQ Magazine! 

Read Here!