Satchel's Last Resort is home to over 100 animals that have no place else to go because of their age, medical issue, breed, or behavior. Housed on 12 acres east of I-75 off Clark Road, Satchel’s is a no-kill animal shelter and sanctuary whose mission is to rescue, rehab, and rehome. Sadly, other shelters refused to commit to the long-term care of these animals or owners had no other alternative but euthanasia. Satchel's takes in these dogs and cats that often need extensive medical care and gets them the help they need. In addition, the organization has a Woof Pack program in which experienced volunteers pick up and mentor specific behaviorally challenged dogs and cats to help them work through their issues. In 2003, founder, Page Knoebel established the nonprofit where animals that are unable to recover from physical and/or emotional trauma can remain at the sanctuary for the remainder of their natural life. Additionally, if a person cannot care for the animal that they adopted, it is welcomed back into the shelter. With a 90% adoption rate, the Satchel’s team makes every priority to find a forever home for all of the animals in their care.

On Saturday, November 5th, Satchel’s will hold its biggest fundraiser of the year, the Pars 4 Paws Golf Tournament with 128 golfers participating. After the tournament, there will be a cookout under the oak trees, followed by a 50/50 helicopter ball drop–a fun event in which golf balls sold for $20 each are dropped from the helicopters onto the putting green at the LBK Club. The ball closest to the hole wins half of the proceeds. Last year, Satchel’s sold over $10,000 worth of balls, earning the winner $5,000. Participants in the ball drop do not have to be present to win and the organizers do not shame the person to give their winnings back. Proceeds from the event will be used for medical care, which exceeds $100,000 annually and also to build new kennels someday for the dogs currently housed in an open-air shelter.

“This fundraiser supports the livelihood of the dogs and cats in our care. Everyone is at capacity but every animal deserves a home. With your support, we can make sure they find theirs,” says Knoebel. “Prior to the pandemic, Beach Veterinary Clinic in Bradenton provided almost all of our veterinary care. Now, it's a bit harder for us. They are extremely busy so we use whichever emergency veterinary care can help us. We have relationships with all of them and they are very good to us.”

The Pars 4 Paws Golf Tournament will be held at Longboat Key Club. The event begins with a 7-8:30 am breakfast and cost is $195 per Golfer or $90 for lunch only. 

Pictured: Ronaldo received the care he needed at Satchel's after being hit by a car. He is improving every day and will go on to have a full life with a loving family. Photo courtesy of Satchels.

To learn more click here.

Food banks in Sarasota and Manatee counties rushed to help people impacted by Hurricane Ian, dipping into their reserves to help out after the storm. In response to the need, leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have rallied volunteers from surrounding states to come to the aid of people affected by the storm. The church leaders asked the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program how they could provide assistance to our local food pantries serving the community. As a result they are sending 18 tons of food and supplies that will be distributed to non-profit agencies participating in the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program. Non-profit organizers are asking members of the community to continue to donate in time for the holidays to provide for ongoing storm relief, and help for Thanksgiving and Christmas. All donations stay in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Financial donations are especially appreciated. They allow food pantries to give out gift cards, which means participants can buy the foods they like and know how to prepare. As an added bonus, the Flanzer Trust is matching donations made through their site, FlanzerTrust.org. Make sure to select The MFTHP from the list of charities. Donors can also learn about giving their time or non-perishable food items at MayorsFeedTheHungry.org. 

Luz Corcuera, beloved executive director of UnidosNow, will be stepping down at the end of 2022 to devote her full attention to her family. As UnidosNow’s co-founder and current board chair, Luz has been a transformational leader, ushering in an era of remarkable growth for the organization. Luz poured her talent, love, and passion into UnidosNow and made a significant impact on the region. It is with good reason, as a result, that Luz has been recognized nationally for her work. She will be deeply missed, particularly by the families and students the organization serves. Luz has been a trailblazing force throughout her seven-year tenure at UnidosNow. She strengthened and expanded educational programs designed to put predominantly low-income, first-generation Latinx students on a path to a post-secondary education. Her transformation of these programs has empowered more than 3,000 high school graduates to build a post-secondary path, securing over $14 million in scholarships and grants, the great bulk of dollars coming from outside the southwest Florida region to support these local students. Luz has also expanded the reach of the organization, launching new intergenerational programs including the Future Leaders Academy for Girls (FLAG) for elementary students, Future Leaders Academy for Middle Schoolers (FLAM), and the Parent Leadership program. During the pandemic, Luz led the organization in uncharted territory establishing key partnerships to provide critical emergency assistance, health education/vaccine and treatment access to hundreds of Hispanic families in the region.

Born in Peru, Luz moved to Canada where she worked as a family therapist before relocating to Manatee County in 2000 serving in several leadership roles before accepting the executive director position at UnidosNow in 2016. Luz has been honored with numerous awards for building strong relationships in the Manasota region with private, public, faith-based, and civic organizations to close the education achievement gap, reversing negative health trends, and empowering people to be active citizens. This year, Corcuera was appropriately recognized at a national level by the Bank of America as one of five Inaugural “Neighborhood Builders Racial Equality Champions” honored for their transformational work in communities around the United States. Beyond the recognition, the honor also led to the largest unrestricted gift to UnidosNow in the organization’s history–a fitting end to an amazing career. 

Pictured: Luz Corcuera, a leader with vision, integrity and the ability to inspire others. Photo courtesy of UnidosNow.

Through a unique philanthropic collaboration, PLANit Sarasota received $100,000 in grants to promote postsecondary education with a focus on historically underrepresented students who rarely go on to achieve college degrees or trade diplomas. These grants were made possible through an initial investment of $50,000 from Florida Philanthropic Network, with funding from the Helios Education Foundation and Kresge Foundation. Their support was matched dollar for dollar by Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and corporate sponsors. Collaboration between nonprofit and for-profit sectors is the power of PLANit Sarasota, a collective effort to invest in students and a strong local workforce. The support of business partners fueled the success of the matching opportunity. Florida Power & Light Company and PGT Innovations joined Bank of America (BofA), which provided a $25,000 grant toward the match. For many years, BofA has worked with nonprofit partners, local organizations, and leaders across public and private sectors to help support workforce development and education. PLANit Sarasota will utilize the funds to support Sarasota students in achieving their career and educational goals post-high school. Offering success coaching, digital tools, college application support, and financial aid guidance, PLANit Sarasota, our community’s Local College Access Network, is critical to the future success of our student population. The Florida Philanthropic Network College Access and Success Initiative (CASI 2.0) Challenge Match grant was made possible by Helios Education Foundation and Kresge Foundation. 

The Sarasota Ballet is delighted to announce that this year it has been awarded a $65,000 Arts Appreciation Grant by Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The Sarasota Ballet is incredibly grateful to be amongst the 14 organizations to receive this award. This year the Arts Appreciation Grant will provide support for many of The Sarasota Ballet’s productions, as well as events and education performances for the year. The Arts Appreciation Grant will aid in The Sarasota Ballet School’s collaboration with the Venice Performing Arts Center for the new production of The Nutcracker, set to premiere in December. Gulf Coast is also supporting The Sarasota Ballet’s Gala Royale honoring Executive Director Joseph Volpe, as well as contributing to the newest patron program for the Company, Relevé. Through Relevé, The Sarasota Ballet aims to make performance attendance and interaction more accessible to younger audiences, and to keep in line with the Company’s goal of expanding the reach of ballet in the community. 

To learn more click here.

This year, Tri County Air is launching a new Christmas-season initiative called Comfort & Joy. In summary, the company wants to give away a free air conditioning and heating system to a family in need. The true goal, though, is to do for one what you wish you could do for all. The past few years have been devastating for a lot of people, and Tri County Air wants to do what they can to relieve some of that pain for a local family. Tri County Air’s goal is to come alongside the winning family in as many ways as possible, beyond simply installing a free air conditioning system. Maddy Presley is a member of the management team at Tri County Air and has been one of the organizers behind this new effort. She remarked, “If the winning family has kids, we hope to bring them presents. Maybe we can bake Christmas cookies with them while our crew is getting their new A/C up and working the day of the install. Do they need Christmas decorations? We hope to help with that, too. The word ‘Joy’ in the name Comfort & Joy is just as critical to us as the word ‘Comfort.’ We want this to be a fun time to remember.” They also hope to connect other deserving families who may have been nominated to local non-profits with resources that may help them through their tough season as well.  If you or someone you know could use some “Comfort & Joy” this holiday season, please submit your nominations at tricountyair.com/comfort-and-joy beginning November 1, 2022 and ending November 11, 2022. There are only a few qualifications: nominees must reside in and own their home; they must reside in the Tri County Air service area of Manatee, Sarasota, or Charlotte County in Florida; and they must be open to sharing their story publicly. Nominations will be analyzed by a committee of non-profit leaders and Tri County Air employees from November 14-16th and public voting on the 10 families chosen by committee members will take place from November 17-27th. The winning family will be announced on November 28th. 

To learn more click here.

New College of Florida will celebrate the 43rd anniversary of its annual Clambake, hosted by the New College Foundation, on Thursday, November 3rd, at 6 p.m. The event will take place on the New College bayfront beside College Hall, 351 College Drive in Sarasota. All ticket proceeds benefit student scholarships. Event chairs are Erin Christy, Doug Christy, and Charlene Heiser Wolff. This time-honored event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for student scholarships. Last year it raised more than $530,000 - the most ever raised in the event's history. Guests will enjoy New England fare catered by Michael's on East, entertainment, cocktails and a breathtaking sunset. Clambake has been one of Sarasota's most popular philanthropic events for more than four decades. 

Rise & Nye’s, the downtown Sarasota coffee and ice cream shop with a mission, is hosting its second Great Ice Cream Eating Championship on November 12th at 11:00am sharp! Show everyone “what cha got” by eating as much ice cream as you can in 4 minutes. Two age divisions. A $20 entry fee (supports our nonprofit, Inclusion Revolution) gives contestants the opportunity to win an array of spectacular prizes along with the pride of being named Sarasota’s Ice Cream Eating Champ. Sign up. Be a winner. Support the amazing team members at Rise & Nye’s. 

Click here to register.