The Lily School students of Easter Seals received 98 boxes of shoes from Shoe Carnival of the Shoppes at University Center. Shoe Carnival staff gift-wrapped the slip-on or Velcro footwear for children ages birth to five years old.

 

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Manatee County first responders participated in a friendly competition hosted by Suncoast Behavioral Health Center to see which agency could raise the most number of blood donors for SunCoast Blood Bank. This year firefighters took home the trophy with 46 units donated in their honor; law enforcement raised 35 units of blood.

 

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received a $15,000 grants for the Juvenile Justice Mentoring Initiative in Sarasota and Venice by Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation and an $8,831 grant from United Way Suncoast for the organization’s one-to-one mentoring program.

 

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Community Haven for Adults and Children with Disabilities received a $14,100 check from the Sarasota Men’s Auxiliary of VFW Post #3233. The Auxiliary group raised the funds at its fourth annual golf tournament at Rolling Greens Golf Course; each year, the funds have gone to Community Haven.

 

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Twenty-three local nonprofit and fund-raising partners of the Sarasota Music Half Marathon will receive $25,000 for event support, including Canine Castaway, Tuttle Elementary School, Loveland Center, Junior League, Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast, Sarasota County School District, Young Professional Group, Miss Sarasota Softball, Sertoma Kids, Salvation Army, Braden River High School Band Boosters, Selby Gardens, Papillon Club at Booker High School, Papillon Club at Riverview High School, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Sarasota Seminole Club, Girls Scouts of SW Florida, Out of Door Academy - in memory of a former student who was a runner, Sarasota Military Academy, Women’s Resource Center and Southeastern Guide Dogs.