Charity for Change received a $25,000 grant from the Collier Community Foundation to update its elementary school curriculum to meet new state educational standards. Charity for Change serves at-risk pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students in Collier County through after-school, summer and in-school settings. “We are grateful for the Collier Community Foundation’s support of Charity for [...]
Glenna Hayhoe, one of the founders of nonprofit Avow Hospice 40 years ago, was recognized by The Women’s Foundation of Collier County as a Women of Initiative at its Women Rock Philanthropy luncheon Dec. 6. “Glenna not only started Collier County’s only nonprofit hospice 40 years ago with a dream and no funding, but she [...]
The 7th Annual MarineMax Yacht Gala raised more than $330,000 at “An Evening Under the Stars,” bringing the total raised since 2016 to more than $1.4 million for Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. “MarineMax has been bringing people together in support of Golisano Children’s Hospital since 2016,” said Patti Chlipala, director of development for [...]
Healthcare Network is pleased to announce intravenous (IV) sedation has been added to its pediatric dental program available at the organization’s Nichols Community Health Center in Golden Gate. IV sedation, in addition to the organization’s existing nitrous oxide sedation option, will support pediatric patients who may need several procedures to be done during a single [...]
Lee BIA Builders Care, Christopher Alan Homes and community partners came together on Jan. 13 to write Notes of Love on the framework of a new home being built at no cost to a Fort Myers homeowner. Nancy Jackson, a third-generation Fort Myers native, has lived in her residence for more than 20 years, but [...]
The Preserve, a Fort Myers-based continuing care retirement community, has partnered with the Dr. Piper Center to collect new, unwrapped toys for children of all ages now through Dec. 23. Toys can be dropped off at The Preserve, located at 14750 Hope Center Loop in Fort Myers daily between the hours of 8 a.m. and [...]
Avow received a $5,000 grant from Truist to support grief and bereavement programming for people of all ages, specifically targeted to improving mental health. Avow’s bereavement programs are open to all residents and visitors in Southwest Florida without cost. In 2021, Avow served 930 individual virtual and in-person adult sessions, 7,408 phone check-ins to those grieving, [...]
Comerica Bank has concluded a five-month initiative to honor and celebrate nonprofit organizations in Southwest Florida that are raising expectations in the community. Through gomerica Gratitude, Comerica presented donations to 20 nonprofits aligned with the company’s three giving priorities: education, economic and community development, and human services. Nearly every week from June through October, Comerica [...]
One month after Hurricane Ian, disaster response nonprofit Cajun Navy Ground Force has served 80,000 hot meals and distributed more than $10 million in relief supplies to hurricane-battered communities in Southwest Florida. Founded in 2016, the nationally recognized organization responds to the aftermath of major disasters across the U.S. including Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Florence and Michael. The Cajun [...]
BSSW Architects has hired Laura Sweeting as its marketing director to manage all communications, public relations, advertising and social media. In this role, Sweeting also leads the firm’s Request for Qualification (RFQ) process, which includes researching and analyzing opportunities, drafting proposals, developing graphics and coordinating communications. Additionally, Sweeting is responsible for developing a comprehensive strategic [...]
Boys & Girls Club of Collier County has hired Jennifer Nelson as chief development officer to build, develop and manage a comprehensive fundraising program for the nonprofit. In this role, Nelson is responsible for all fundraising efforts, including setting the vision and strategy for the team, strengthening donor relations, events, planned giving, major gifts and [...]
The Guardian ad Litem Foundation, 20th Judicial Circuit, has hired Jessica Racine as program assistant to coordinate administrative, fundraising and operational tasks. In this role, Racine helps facilitate communications between donors, volunteer child advocates and the children they represent. She also assists with social media content development, event planning, database monitoring, bookkeeping, maintenance of records and [...]
First Lady Casey DeSantis presented Better Together, a nonprofit dedicated to families and children, with a $400,000 grant to support its Hurricane Ian disaster relief efforts. Presented during a disaster fund news conference on Oct. 21 in Sarasota, the grant funds will support the nonprofit’s efforts to provide a variety of resources to meet the [...]
Elite DNA Behavioral Health, a comprehensive behavioral and mental health care provider, recently hosted a Back-to-School Supplies Drive that collected 4,200 items of school supplies to help area students prepare for the new school year. The month-long collection was held at Elite DNA’s more than 20 offices across the state and gathered an array of [...]
The 5th Annual Clips for Cancer kicks off Sept. 1. The month-long event raises funds to ensure that programs and services are available for local children diagnosed with cancer at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. Throughout September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, pediatric cancer survivors will shave the heads of more than 25 local community leaders [...]
Fort Myers-based BelieveNBooks has launched a new initiative, PageTurner, to help preschool-aged children become better readers at an early age. PageTurner is a YouTube channel featuring videos of Southwest Florida teens reading children’s books. Students are provided corresponding books, allowing them to read alongside their digital reading partners. BelieveNBooks, which has a mission of providing [...]
The Horizon Foundation has appointed Rachel Busch, CEcD, to the position of business development director. In this role, Busch will establish and strengthen relationships with Southwest Florida businesses that are committed to the region’s economic vitality and future growth. The Horizon Foundation raises private-sector money to support economic development initiatives and invest in the long-term [...]
Rachel Fecteau has joined Family Initiative, Inc. as the community engagement specialist working alongside co-founders David Brown and Anjali Van Drie to promote compassionate care and support to children and families living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through community awareness and outreach. In this role, Fecteau will oversee community education and outreach in order to [...]
Avow has purchased a new building and opened a new Treasures Resale Shop at 9765 Tamiami Trail N in North Naples. The store is in the former For the Love of Golf building in the Naples Park neighborhood. In addition to providing expanded retail space, the building has two apartments, which Avow will use to [...]
Marketing professional Amy McQuagge has joined the board of directors for the Guardian ad Litem Foundation, 20th Judicial Circuit. As a board member, McQuagge is responsible for program oversight, fundraising, event coordination and public awareness campaigns for the Guardian ad Litem Foundation, which has a mission of ensuring that every abused, neglected or abandoned youth in [...]
A fundraising page has been launched to help employees of The Island Cow restaurant, which is closed following an after-hours kitchen fire on Aug. 6. The goal for the page is to raise up to $250,000, enough to cover two months of wages for the restaurant’s 50 employees. The Island Cow owners Brian and Elke [...]
Sunshine Ace Hardware helped raise $3,546 through its Back-to-School Round Up. This donation will help purchase new school supplies and classroom materials for students attending Guadalupe Center in Immokalee. During a two-week period in July, customers at Sunshine Ace retail stores in Collier and Lee counties were able to round up their purchases at the register, [...]
Advanced Aesthetic Solutions has welcomed Cassandra “Cassie” Slota to its Fort Myers-based medical spa. A board-certified Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Slota specializes in injections, including Botox and fillers. Slota earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Old Dominion University in Virginia. She was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Armed Forces and served as a [...]
Advocate Radiation Oncology has established a new cancer treatment center in West Palm Beach. This is the practice's second location on the east coast of Florida that will provide residents of the surrounding counties with access to world-class physicians and state-of-the-art cancer treatment technology. Advocate is the region’s premier radiation oncology practice and features an [...]
Lee BIA Builders Care and community partners recently came together to surprise a Fort Myers homeowner with the gift of a new air conditioning system. Celestine McClinton has lived in her home for nearly 40 years, yet her existing central AC unit was 25 years old and no longer worked. To get by, she relied [...]
The NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Collier County Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has appointed Beth Hatch as its chief executive officer (CEO) effective July 26. Hatch comes from Naples and has lengthy experience in the non-profit sector, most recently being the head of Pathways Early Education Center of Immokalee. [...]
Healthcare Network has matched its employee contributions to Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance (IFHA), creating a total donation exceeding $13,700. Healthcare Network held an internal fundraising campaign to raise money for the housing alliance, which has a vision of providing access to secure, affordable, hurricane-resistant rental housing, strengthening the community by fostering health, education, dignity and [...]
The Lee Board of County Commissioners recently voted to approve the allocation of $900,000 to Family Initiative, a Lee County-based nonprofit that provides social skills programs, clinical services and community education for children and families impacted by autism spectrum disorder as well as those in the child welfare system. The funding comes from the American [...]
Lee Health Foundation has awarded Barbara’s Friends Scholarships to two local high school students, one a cancer survivor with sickle cell disease and another with sickle cell disease. It is the second year the scholarships have been awarded. Receiving this year’s Barbara’s Friends Scholarships are Sarah Jean and Jetro Calixte. Jean graduated from Golden Gate [...]
Comerica Bank is presenting a series of “gomerica Gratitude” donations to nonprofits across Southwest Florida as a way of honoring and celebrating organizations that raise expectations in the community. Comerica launched its gomerica Gratitude initiative on June 8 at Whitaker Woods, an affordable home community in Naples being developed by Habitat for Humanity of Collier [...]
May is recognized as National Foster Care Month and is in acknowledgment of the 407,000 children and youth in foster care. The initiative by the Children’s Bureau is a time to appreciate the foster parents, family members, volunteers, mentors, policymakers, child welfare professionals and members of the community who contribute to the wellbeing and advancement [...]
Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) has awarded Lee Health Foundation “Overall High Performer” status among respondents in its 2021 Report on Giving. Overall high performers represent AHP’s traditional criteria of the top 25% in net production returns across all respondents. Based on fundraising during the 2020 fiscal year, these high performers raised more than $19 [...]
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Lee County has purchased the former Fort Myers Event Center and plans to transform the space into a flagship club for children and teens in Fort Myers. Located on 2.2 acres at 1900 Park Meadows Drive in Fort Myers, the interior of the 14,500-square-foot building, which also has been [...]
Better Together, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families in crisis and preventing the need for foster care, is hosting Parents’ Night Out events on Saturday, May 28 and Friday, June 3 in Jacksonville. The program offers parents, grandparents and other caregivers access to a couple of hours of no-cost care for children ages infant through [...]
Better Together, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families in crisis and preventing the need for foster care, is hosting a Better Luncheon for parents in Manatee and Sarasota counties on Saturday, May 14 at Resonate Life Church in Bradenton. Better Together organizes a luncheon program at various locations each month to bring parents together for [...]
Lee BIA Builders Care, the nonprofit charitable arm of the Lee Building Industry Association (BIA), has received a donation of $6,429 from the GulfShore Mustang Club of Southwest Florida. Funds will support the nonprofit’s efforts to provide emergency construction services at no cost to needy and deserving elderly and/or disabled homeowners, and their families, who [...]
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Collier County has moved administrative offices from 6216 Trail Blvd., Naples to 3050 Horseshoe Drive North, Suite 168, Naples. The central telephone number remains 239-260-7300 as will all other contact information. Supportive Housing, HUGS and core administrative services will be moving to the new facility. The Sarah Ann Center, its [...]
The Guardian ad Litem Foundation, 20th Judicial Circuit, raised $30,612 at its sold-out Jazz on the Harbor event to support Southwest Florida children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. Held March 19 at Port Charlotte Beach Park, Jazz on the Harbor drew a sold-out crowd, and was a music, culinary and sunset celebration highlighted [...]
More than 120 community supporters came together to give a final salute to 10 years of the Celebrity Martini Glass Auction (CMGA) during an Evening of Appreciation held April 9 at Sea Salt in Naples. The sold-out private dinner marked a farewell to the annual event where martini glasses signed by celebrities or American heroes [...]
Community Cooperative’s pantries are now filled with over two tons of peanut butter and jelly supplies after the nonprofit’s 2022 Peanut Butter & Jelly Food Drive. To help keep shelves stocked all summer long, Community Cooperative launched its annual PB&J Food Drive in March to rally the support of families, businesses and the community in [...]
Community Cooperative raised over $24,000 on April 9 at the return of Empty Bowls, an event that had not been held in Lee County since 2017. Empty Bowls included a soup competition and community entertainment to benefit Community Cooperative’s emergency food programs, which include Sam’s Community Café & Kitchen, the Community Market, Meals on Wheels [...]
GuideStar has awarded Guadalupe Center a Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest rating level reserved for nonprofits that fully disclose their strategies, metrics and achievements. GuideStar, the world’s largest source of information about nonprofit organizations, offers four rating levels for nonprofits: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The Platinum Seal of Transparency indicates that an organization [...]
Better Together, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families in crisis and preventing the need for foster care, is hosting a Better Luncheon for Southwest Florida parents on Saturday, April 23 in Fort Myers. Better Together organizes a luncheon program at various locations each month to bring parents together for community, to support each other and [...]
Better Together, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families in crisis and preventing the need for foster care, is hosting a Better Luncheon for parents of Manatee and Sarasota counties on Saturday, April 16 at Crosspointe Church in Sarasota. Better Together organizes a luncheon program at various locations each month to bring parents together for community, [...]
The 6th Annual MarineMax Yacht Gala raised more than $300,000 at “An Evening Under the Stars,” bringing the total raised since 2016 to more than $1 million for Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. “We are so grateful for community supporters like MarineMax Fort Myers who partner with us to raise the necessary funds to [...]
Charity for Change has received a $10,000 grant from Suncoast Credit Union for improving emotional well-being and academic performance for at-risk students through its social-emotional learning (SEL) program for elementary students. The program’s goal is to improve the emotional well-being and academic performance for at-risk students and engage a minimum of 300 additional at-risk children [...]
The 2022 Grande Dames Tea has raised $67,000 in support of programs for Pace Center for Girls, Lee. The sold-out celebration was held March 17 at Broadway Palm and honored three local women – Ellie Fox, Susan Kyle and Linda Taylor – for their significant impact on the community. “Ellie, Susan and Linda are three [...]
This year, local community nonprofits are more in need of support than in any other time in recent years. Now shoppers can give back to the local community and help to reduce single-use plastics by purchasing a special reusable bag at Winn-Dixie. NAMI Collier County has been selected by local Winn-Dixie store leadership as the [...]
The Boston Red Sox, who have held spring training in Fort Myers since 1993, helped to raise nearly $400,000 to benefit the new neurosurgery program at Golisano Children’s Hospital through the Boston Red Sox Celebrity Golf Classic event series. The annual event series includes a golf tournament and Boston “Tee” Party held at The Forest [...]
Better Together, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families in crisis and preventing the need for foster care, is hosting a Better Luncheon for parents in Manatee and Sarasota counties on Saturday, March 19 at First United Methodist Church of Bradenton. Better Together organizes a luncheon program at various locations each month to bring parents together [...]
