With about a month left in the official Season of Sharing fundraising campaign, two local nonprofits have contributed to the fund that has acted as a community safety net in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties for the last two decades.
The Manatee Community Foundation, a supporting agency to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and the Charlotte Community Foundation donated to the campaign in the final weeks of the year.
“The support of this critical network by our fellow community foundations, their boards of directors and individual donors speaks volumes about the trust there is for Season of Sharing to be a resource for families and individuals during their most challenging times,” Roxie Jerde, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, wrote in a prepared statement.
Adult scholarship applications up almost 40% at Community Foundation of Sarasota County
Community Submitted
Amid shifting economic realities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, adults in the area are pursuing scholarships for further education this year at higher numbers than in years past.
The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has awarded more than $350,000 in adult scholarships. More than half of this year’s nearly 200 award winners plan to study nursing, reflecting a national trend in the demand for health care professionals. Applications by adults ages 24 and older for scholarships to attend university, community college, technical school or certification programs has eclipsed recent years, increasing by 40 percent over 2019 at the Community Foundation.
At its halfway mark, the 2020-2021 Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Season of Sharing campaign is already looking like one for the record books, with more than $2.5 million in donations from the community and local foundations.
That’s already more than a then-record $2.4 million celebrated at a wrap-up event for the 2019-2020 campaign in late February. Additional donations brought that total past $2.5 million, and when the campaign was reactivated from March to July in response to the COVID-19 crisis, another record was set, with nearly $2.8 million raised, according to a chart provided by the Community Foundation.
If giving continues at anything near the pace seen so far, the 2020-2021 campaign will easily exceed that figure.
Season of Sharing helps pay rent before baby undergoes heart surgery
ARCADIA – Baby Jarel turned 1 year and 1 month old this week.
He sat on his mother’s knee, chewing on the pacifier that she clipped to his shirt. He wiggled and bounced while his mother held onto him.
Jarel being at home and in good health is not something his parents could have expected a year ago. The only telltale sign of his past health complications now is a long, thin white scar in the center of his chest.
But when he was only a few months old, doctors told Mario and Maria their baby may not survive at all.
Season of Sharing highlighted on Fox News Sunday
The Community Foundation of Sarasota County received national media attention on Sunday for its work in assisting individuals and families who are struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Roxie Jerde, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, spoke Sunday on “America’s News HQ,” a Fox News weekend television show, about the Season of Sharing campaign bringing the community together during the pandemic.
Jerde spoke on the segment called “America Together” about the impact Season of Sharing has had locally over its 21-year history. Jerde highlighted that Season of Sharing has long been a conduit for “neighbors to help neighbors” in times of crisis through its network of local nonprofit partners.