The Education Foundation’s 20th Annual Evening of Excellence raised more than $275,000 for Sarasota County’s public schools. That total includes $56,000 in in-kind gifts and a live auction that accrued more than $37,000. This fund-raising event benefits the 41,200 students in the public schools through the organization’s initiatives and programs.

 

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received a $15,000 award from the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation for its Juvenile Justice Mentoring Initiative, and $8,831 from United Way Suncoast for one-to-one mentoring. The JJMI program provides prevention and early intervention specialized in mentoring services to youth at high-risk of entering the juvenile justice system.

 

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Sutter Roofing of Sarasota was awarded an honorable mention from the National Roofing Contractors Association for replacing the roof on the Women’s Resource Center of Manatee. When the center called Sutter for an estimate, the firm decided to donate its time, materials and labor for the betterment of the community and replaced the roof free of charge.