Good News Friday: Good Deeds - Sept. 18, 2015
All Faiths Food Bank invites artists to donate bowls for its annual soup and potters luncheon, Bowls of Hope, Sunday, Nov. 8 at Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trial in Sarasota. Event participants will select a handcrafted bowl to keep. The organization is seeking 1,500 bowls for this event. Contact Carla at Carla’s Clay, (941) 359-2773, 1733 Northgate Blvd.; Sue at The Artful Giraffe, (941) 388-3700, 1861 Fruitville Road; or Elaina Mand, (941) 549-8131 or [email protected] . Tickets for the event are $25 in advance online or $30 at the door; kids 12 and under are $10. For more information call (941) 549-8131 or visit allfaithsfoodbank.org.
Through Sept. 30, the Columbia Restaurant will make a contribution equal to 5 percent of all guests’ lunch and dinner checks to the charitable organization chosen by their customers during its 18th Annual Columbia Restaurant Community Harvest Program. Charities this year include All Faiths Food Bank, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, Cat Depot, Foundation For Dreams, Lifelong Learning Academy, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, Moffitt Cancer Center, Mote Marine, Second Chance Last Opportunity, St. Jude Church/Hispanic-American Center, Suncoast Charities for Children, Sunshine From Darkness, The Players and Tidewell Hospice.
DutchCrafters Amish Furniture donated $5,000 to support the work of Mennonite Economic Development Associates through the Bike to GROW fund raiser. Moved by the women impacted by MEDA’s GROW (Greater Rural Opportunities for Women) program, interns Mary Fehr and Sarah French biked across Canada with the goal to raise $150,000. GROW helps women farmers access quality seed and supplies; the program plans to reach 20,000 women over six years. With DutchCrafters’ contribution, Fehr and French raised about $200,000 for the GROW program.
Sarasota Memorial’s Breast Health Grant Support Program was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation to continue providing qualifying residents of Sarasota County the breast health screening and diagnostic services they need but cannot afford. To date, the Healthcare Foundation, along with partner Saks Fifth Avenue, has raised more than $1 million for breast and women’s cancers programs. Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure campaign starts on Thursday, Oct. 15.
Yellow Strawberry hair salon hosted its second annual cut-a-thon to benefit Oak Park School, the school for special needs in the Sarasota County School District that serves almost 300 students from pre-K to age 22. The salon raised $3,000, and 28 stylists gave 46 haircuts throughout the day.
Tammy Kovar, managing director of Biological Tree Services, is riding in the 2015 STIHL Tours des Trees event to raise funds for environmental stewardship. Kovar is collecting donations with a goal of 5K before Sept. 30. Go here for more information and to donate.
Sarasota’s Cool, Plumbing and Energy Today is launching a pink truck for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to help raise awareness and funds for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in September and October. For every person who posts a picture of the pink truck to facebook.com/GetTheBestFromToday, Cool Today will donate $5 to Making Strides, or $10 for every selfie with the pink truck. The effort is part of Cool Today’s Taking Care of People Initiative.
The Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota County was awarded a Displaced Homemakers Grant, a five-year contract of $85,000 per year, totaling over $411,000, from Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity to assist women over the age of 35 with acquiring the employability skills and training needed to obtain successful job placements. WRCSC was one of only four grant recipients in the state.