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Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation
Charting a course to a better community…
Message from the Chairperson:
Updated January 2024
Dear Venice Yacht Club Members
2023 was an amazing year for the VYCCF, we are thankful for the generosity of club members, their families, and
friends. With your help we donated $126,000 to 26 worthy nonprofit organizations, including two that were new
to the foundation. They are Laurel Civic Association, and Adventures for All. Both organizations offer a broad
range of services, helping children with challenges, and supporting families. We focus our giving in support of
Children and Youth services, Mental and Physical Health, Education and Literacy, Hunger, Homelessness,
Veterans, and the Environment.
Our 2023 fundraising events included the Annual Bike Ride for a Better Community, Jazz Under the Stars, and a
Blues Night. The 6th annual bike ride was a spectacular success, and thanks to the hard work of co-event chairs
Dave Slaman and Steve Bielecki we raised over $91,000 for that event alone!
Since our inception, as a donor advised fund in 2010, we have donated over $1,200,000 to more than 75
different organizations. Our mission is to “mobilize the collective goodwill of our community, to improve the
lives of our neighbors, including those who are most vulnerable”.
2023 was our first full year as a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization, I am thankful for the hard-working VYCCF
board and committee members who helped bring about those substantial changes. I am also very thankful to
the VYC board members and club staff for helping make everything we do so successful!
Our first event in 2024 will be the VYCCF Wine Auction on January 10. This wide selection of special wine was
donated by a generous member following the passing of her spouse, who was a wine collector. Then comes
the 7th Annual Ride/Walk for a better Community on Sunday February 18th We look forward to seeing you
there.
Sincerely,
Sylvia Hollister – 2024 Chair
Together we are Charting a Course for a Better Community
"The Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation mobilizes the collective goodwill of our community, to improve the lives of our neighbors, including those who are most vulnerable."
Your 2023 Volunteer VYCCF “Committee of Leaders”
Chair - Sylvia Hollister, Vice Chair - Dave Slaman, Board Secretary - Robert Scholten, Corr. Secretary - Fran Jeffrey Treasurer - John O'Donnell, Director - Don Healy, Kevin Collins, Cheryl Pickels, Pamela Phildius, Barbara Isaacson, Noni Lavelle, Recording Secretary - Joi Nemke, Currents Editor - Barbi Richardson, Anne Van Cott, Cheryl Cook, Rick Schimek, Karla Olson, Haydn Fusia, VYC Board Rep. - Michael Nemser, Sandy Welch, Beth Piel, Cherie Major
Please feel free to reach out to any of these committee and board members with questions regarding projects and programs of the VYCCF.
Dear Fellow Club Members:
2023 exceeded all of our expectations! Our Club’s Charitable Foundation received more than 200 donations from yacht club members, their friends and families, and we thank you all for your generosity! Your kind gifts allowed us to provide support and needed services to 26 different organizations in the Sarasota area.
The 2024 grant cycle has begun, and we have already started to receive grant requests from many area nonprofits.
We look forward to a successful 2024, starting with the special wine auction in January, followed by the February 18 Ride and Walk for a better community! What a great beginning to the year!
This month we are highlighting NAMI, another wonderful organization VYCCF supports—with YOUR help!
NAMI (The National Alliance for Mental Illness) of Sarasota and Manatee counties offers support to families and those individuals affected with mental illnesses. Millions of people are affected by mental illness and this number grows exponentially when one factors in families, friends and caregivers of those suffering.
It is estimated that 1 in 5 adults experience problems with mental illness each year, with 1 in 20 having a serious mental health crisis. In the young population, it is hardly any better with 1 in 6 experiencing a mental health disorder yearly. By the age of 14, 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins and by age 24, 75% are manifesting symptoms. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for those 10-14. And the numbers within the veteran populations are staggering.
NAMI was established in the late 1970s around a kitchen table in Madison, WI, and is now one of the nation’s leading voices advocating on mental health. Today, NAMI boasts 600 local Affiliates and 48 State Organizations who work in communities to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need.
Here in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, NAMI helps more than 10,000 residents annually suffering from mental illness and their families. This help might take the form of support groups, finding specific resources, helping with legal and medical resources and any aspect of life which is being negatively impacted by the individual’s mental health.
“Mental illness is like a cancer of the mind,” says Barbara Isaacson, VYCCF’s Ambassador to NAMI, “and I am honored to be a part of this wonderful organization.”
~ Barbara Isaacson, Venice Yacht Club’s Ambassador to NAMI
Please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VeniceYachctClubCharitableFoundation/
updated: December 2023 Currents
Dear Fellow Club Members:
Thanks to all for your support of our Club’s Charitable Foundation by coming out to the October blues night--it was a smashing success! Mike Imbasciani and his BluezRockerz is gaining a huge following here in Southwest Florida and it’s expanding! We are grateful he carved out time for this special performance.
Your support enables our Foundation to continue contributing to so many worthy groups working hard to improve the lives of our fellow citizens here in the Venice area. This month we will profile Good Samaritan’s Pharmacy & Health Services:
Known informally as Good Samaritan’s RX, this organization was founded in 2008 in nearby Nokomis. The mission: to provide free prescription medication (as well as over-the-counter meds) to uninsured area residents. Good Samaritan actually provides a full circle of care beginning with in-office medical evaluations, to on-site prescription refills. The group also helps clients apply for free long-term help to acquire brand-name medications through manufacturer-patient assistance programs. Through their partnership with Sarasota Memorial Hospital, advanced diagnostic testing is available at no charge. Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists all donate their time to this cause. They now have a volunteer physiatrist seeing patients, which has been very popular.
This is a gem in our midst--helping approximately 600 people throughout Sarasota County and is a great example of a community-based organization.
~ Cheryl Cook, VYCCF’s Ambassador to Good Samaritan’s Pharmacy and Health Services, Inc.
In other Charitable Foundation news: our fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2023. We made total donations in the amount of $130,000 during 2023. We now look forward to kicking off the 2024 grant cycle. Thanks to everyone who made 2023 so successful!
Hope to see you on November 2, for our donor appreciation night. Sunset room, 5.30, when we have a chance to say thank you, buy you a drink, and offer appetizers! There will also be three grant check presentations.
Appreciatively,
Barbi Richardson
Please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VeniceYachctClubCharitableFoundation/
updated: November 2023 Currents
$1,164,623
| Venice Yacht Club ~ 1330 Tarpon Center Drive ~ Venice, FL 34285 ~ Phone: (941) 488-7708 Copyright ©2024 ~ All Rights Reserved |
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