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 Tuesday, March 7th at Michael’s on East in Sarasota. In the coming weeks, we are happy to feature each of the ten honorees in our Wednesday Philanthropic edition of SRQ Daily.

Today we are recognizing Liberty Savings Bank. As a proud Sarasota, Venice and Bradenton community bank, this corporate Good Hero organization makes it a major priority to give back to local charities and nonprofits. Last year alone, their staff members spent an estimated 400 hours volunteering in the region and donated over $21,000 to 18 different local charities including The Haven, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity South Sarasota and Manatee County, Cat Depot, Low Rider Dachshund Rescue of Florida, Lighthouse Vision Loss Education Center and The Roskamp Institute. Their volunteer efforts include building homes and fundraising with Habitat for Humanity, participating in community clean-up efforts after Hurricane Ian, collecting donations for The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle program, donating blood at local blood banks, volunteering with their local churches, and assisting with Big Bank Theory, a hands-on financial literacy simulation for high school seniors in Manatee County. Thank you for your giving back spirit and congratulations. Patti Shirley, Senior Vice President accepted the award on behalf of Liberty Savings Bank. 

Pictured: Patti Shirley (center) with Dr. Helene Lotman (left) and SRQ Magazine Managing Editor, Barbie Heit. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

Last month, the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast hosted a Nature Lecture at Michael’s On East, featuring author Jason Vuic, who spoke about his book, Swamp Peddlers, which tells the tale of the Florida installment land sales industry that thrived during the 1950s and 1960s. Raised in Punta Gorda, Vuic observed the strange pattern of empty lots along the inland areas of the Gulf Coast. “The most defining characteristic of southwest Florida growing up was our endless subdivided lots that were everywhere,” he said.

Curious about how this trend began, Vuic researched the Florida land sales industry. He learned that large Miami-based developers, known as land giants, had discovered an ingenious way to buy up and sell parcels of land with promises to turn them into communities for residents. “The lots were built before anyone wanted to live there. These communities were everywhere and built around the same time. The land giants were massive companies, but in 1954 they didn’t exist. By 1960, it was the only game in town, almost like Silicon Valley had appeared in Florida, but by selling lots to northerners. These companies sliced, diced and subdivided the state.”

In order to entice people to buy into this version of the Florida dream, the land giants targeted specific demographics, employing marketing techniques to appeal to their desires. These companies catered to middle-income northerners, most of whom were retirees with stable pensions. Former teachers, policemen and steel mill workers all wanted to experience the Florida lifestyle, made more attractive by innovations like air conditioning. “Up north, people were getting out of the cities in droves. Middle-income retirees did not live in the new suburbs because they didn’t have enough money. If you couldn’t go to the suburbs, you could move to Florida, if it were parceled out and sold to you in an easy way, like $10 down $10 a month in installments.” Such installment plans were advertised via national magazines, radio ads and even infomercials. Many companies also targeted former GIs, employing unscrupulous methods to convince them to buy land. Some sold lots to GIs while they were stationed in Vietnam.

Even though the land giants were selling massive quantities of lots, they didn’t plan to create a livable community for residents. “The companies weren’t planning for cities; they were just trying to sell lots,” adds Vuic. The most future residents got was a paved road because whenever a lot was sold the companies had to provide one. With no industry or infrastructure to support anyone living on this land, people abandoned the lots, which now lie empty, connected by what Vuic calls “roads to nowhere.” Because various individuals own these lots, initiatives to consolidate them and repurpose the land have been difficult.

However, Christine Johnson, president of the Conservation Foundation, stated that in spite of the challenges, the foundation is working to turn these areas back into wild places. The foundation hopes to close on one such property later this fall. “I hope you can draw the connection between this talk and our work. It’s important that we understand where we came from so we can learn from our past,” she said.

Learn more about the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast at conservationfoundation.com. 

Author Jason Vuic spoke about his book, Swamp Peddlers, at the Nature Lecture hosted by the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. Photo by Seth Berman.

The Lakewood Ranch Community Fund (LWRCF) is pleased to announce the launch of its Builders Give Back program, through which builders make a $100 donation per closing to the LWRCF in the name of the new homeowner. The builders currently participating are Anchor Builders, AR Homes, Homes By Towne, John Cannon Homes, Lee Wetherington Homes, Pulte Homes, and Stock Luxury Homes. The program is further supported by Lakewood Ranch Communities, which will donate a matching $100 per closing to the LWRCF. The new program benefits the LWRCF by both developing engagement with homeowners in their community and introducing them to local philanthropy, which in turn will help create support for the LWRCF into the future. The mission of the LWRCF, which is financed fully by residents and businesses, is to support the nonprofits that are doing impactful work in Lakewood Ranch and the surrounding areas in Manatee and Sarasota counties. As Lakewood Ranch continues to grow, the needs of the community–including human services, education, animal services, and arts and culture–will also grow. 

It’s the evening rush hour, as traffic and a throng of people line the busy streets outside the gardens. Just as the selfies stop, kids climb down from the Banyan trees, the crowds diminish, as another event begins.Once a month at 5:15 p.m. when the gardens and the cafe, gift shop, and greenhouse area remain closed, the rest of the park reopens for a true happy hour. One that is free of drinks or food, but just offers tranquility.

Enter Tranquil Tuesdays at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, a private, after hours experience, where the gardens stay open an extra hour to experience it without the interruption of crowds. Simply, persons with sensory-sensitive or neurodiverse members of the community can have an hour free of stress. Free of the normal bustling and loud noises. This allows community members to just enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

Peacefulness awaits you, as you are handed a map by a staff member, and enter the south gate. There you can find your own version of serenity and explore the gardens on your own. And you are welcome to bring a caregiver or family member as well. “Aptly named. One of the most peaceful places I have ever been,” said Pam Snyder, a passerby at Tranquil Tuesdays.

The event takes place at the Downtown Sarasota Campus, and is not available at the Historic Spanish Point Campus in Osprey, Guests will enter through the South Gate, just beyond the Welcome Center. The best address for mapping is 1534 Mound Street, Sarasota, FL 34236. Parking is located across the street from the above address. From there, a staff member will direct you toward the South Gate for check-in. The event is from 5:15 until 6:15. During regular hours, when there is a need, there are resources available at the Welcome Center as well: sound cancellation headphones, and wheelchairs, just request them. Contact: Partners providing registration to members in their community in this outreach effort, called "Tranquil Tuesdays," include: Easterseals of Southwest Florida, The Haven, Josh Provides, and Loveland Center and Ross Johnston, Manager of Visitor Engagement at the Selby: rjohnston@selby.org. 

Pictured: Tranquil Tuesdays offer an extra hour of quiet exploration of the grounds without the crowds or noise. Photo by Cynthia Fabian.

In the May 2023 edition of SRQ Magazine, we interviewed Bronwyn Beightol, Chief Impact Officer for United Way Suncoast, and Phillip Tavill, President & CEO of Children First, as part of our In Conversation feature on Supporting Children and Families. Below is an excerpt published in the magazine in which Beightol and Tavill shares their insights with SRQ readers on their efforts in supporting children and families.

How does your organization touch or connect with the children and what are the spaces or environments in which your influence is the biggest?

Bronwyn Beightol

I'd like to think that we intersect with children and families in most of the ways that children and families live their lives. So from a partnering perspective, we're involved with the nonprofits in our community, bringing alignment, collaboration, and strategic focus in particular areas. If we're talking about early education, in just the past few years, we've started focusing on our Quality Child Care initiative, which is making sure that there are quality childcare opportunities for families that we refer to as ALICE– Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed–basically our community, more than half who are working hard every single day trying to make ends meet, and realizing that the cost of childcare can cost as much as a year's worth of tuition at USF. The Quality Child Care Initiative is making sure that our childcare centers have what they need to provide services for our families. And that can be anywhere from educational materials, to professional development support, to behavioral health support, and to making sure that our centers have the materials that they need to be successful.

One quick story that came to light even more so after this latest hurricane, is that a center can't function, can't operate if it doesn't have the necessary equipment or safety protocols and all of that in place. So we had a center that lost a fence and lost some of their outside toys and they couldn't open up without having that available. You would think if the inside is okay, everything's going to be alright. It's not. So we worked with our Early Learning Coalition, which is another wonderful partnership. This was in DeSoto County, and we made sure that they had what they needed and got that sorted out so that they could get opened up as soon as possible, and serve our communities and families. Because again, families needed to go to work. And our children still needed to be in an early educational environment, for more reasons than just families going to work.

Philip Tavill

We have multiple sites throughout the county from Northport to Newtown. And our connection with children is really year-round. Infant and toddler care, beginning with services to pregnant moms, taking babies into our care at six weeks of age, and working with them in our really beautiful state-of-the-art early childhood education centers until they're four or five and they go off to kindergarten, or as they like to call it the big school. And we have multiple locations because we want to make sure that barriers to service are as limited as possible. So being in neighborhoods where our families live makes it much more convenient for them to be able to have their kids come see us. And then the other thing that really helps is our family strengthening programming, which typically runs in the evenings after the school day. And when families come back, whether it's budgeting classes, how to become a better parent, or nurturing dads, they're really coming back to their second home. They're coming back to where their kids spend their day. So it behooves us to be really well located based on where our families live. 

To read the full article, click here.

Coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Month, Sarasota-based non-profit Resilient Retreat recently released its 2022 impact report, shedding a light on both the need for trauma-based services and their positive impact. Serving survivors of trauma and abuse with free and confidential programming, the young non-profit has already made a significant impact on the Southwest Florida community and has set its sights for continued growth in the year ahead. The Need: The report’s 2022 data analysis was based upon the collected health questionnaires of more than 920 program participants. The non-profit experienced a significant increase in the number of participants served—up 106 percent from 2021 to 2022—demonstrating not only its success in increasing awareness but also the eagerness of individuals to participate. Unsurprisingly, the majority of respondents, nearly 60 percent, reported high levels of stress, which has been classified by the World Health Organization as the health epidemic of the 21st Century. Compassion fatigue was also prevalent, cited by more than 80 percent of respondents, and 75 percent met the clinical criteria for PTSD. The Impact: With a wide variety of programming to choose from, including trauma-informed yoga, equine therapy and neurofeedback, Resilient Retreat participants averaged four programs or activities throughout the year. Remarkably, more than 90 percent noted that they felt better after attending, and over 95 percent said that they would recommend the program to others. Other key highlights from the 2022 report include: 85 percent reported a decrease in burnout;  76 percent reported an improvement in the ability to control their emotions; 70 percent reported an improvement in depression symptoms; 52 percent reported an improvement in PTSD symptoms. To access the full report with additional details and further insights, please visit https://www.resilientretreat.org/impact/. Interviews and high-res images are available upon request. 

Rise & Nye’s, the downtown Sarasota coffee and ice cream shop with a mission, is hosting the 2023 Spring Edition of the Great Ice Cream Eating Championship on May 20th at 11:00am sharp! Show everyone “what cha got” by eating as much ice cream as you can in 3 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.

Suncoast Charities for Children, organizer of Suncoast Summer Fest, officially announced several event fundraisers scheduled during the upcoming summer season. Each of these events helps sustain fundraising efforts, during a typically slower time of the year, for local children, teens, and adults with special needs and their families. Events scheduled to take place include: 7 th Annual Bob Rizi Memorial Golf Classic – June 23; The “Friendliest Catch” Fishing Tournament – June 28 *Private event for clients with intellectual & developmental disabilities; “Waves & Wheels” Kickoff Party – June 30; “Waves & Wheels” Fun Run (Boats, Motorcycles, & Cars) – July 1; July 4th Bayfront Fireworks Spectacular – July 4; Casino Night – August 26. A Casino Night event was added to this year’s lineup with net proceeds benefitting a new children’s therapy scholarship fund established in memory of Ron Foxworthy. Foxworthy was a former Suncoast Charities Board Member and one of the original founders of the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix Festival. Suncoast Charities for Children Executive Director, Lucy Nicandri, stated: “Mr. Foxworthy was dedicated to raising money to help local children with special needs. He was passionate about making sure they received the necessary therapies they needed whether it be speech, occupational, physical, aquatic, feeding, or mental health. With many families currently needing financial assistance, so their children can continue receiving therapy services, it was the perfect time to honor his legacy by establishing a children’s scholarship fund in his memory.” Seed money for the scholarship fund was made possible thanks to the generosity of the James M. Doss Charitable Foundation. The festival’s “Waves & Wheels” Fun Run is also being held in memory of Noel Speranza, former Board Member with Suncoast Charities for Children. For more information, tickets, and sponsorship opportunities visit: suncoastsummerfest.org 

Writing A New Chapter | NewGate School stepped up to lend a helping hand after Hurricane Ian's path of destruction left neighbors without food, shelter or income for months, May/June 2023. 

Read Here!