Caught in the Act of Kindness - February 2022
Celebrating individuals, groups and organizations that share their time, talent and treasure to meet the needs in our community.
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~ Aesop
CHAPTER 74
Books for Collier Kids (BCK) was awarded a $17,000 Windstar Gives Back grant from the Windstar Charitable Foundation.
Cindy Obrecht, Marianne Kearns and Sharon Tolnai
Pace Center for Girls, Collier at Immokalee was awarded $15,000 from the Arthrex Charitable Giving program.
Champions For Learning celebrated community leaders who have impacted the lives of hundreds of Collier County students at their annual Night of Champions event.
The Immokalee Affordable Housing Project has received a $1 Million Pledge from NoVo Foundation.
Halley Kretschmer, STARability Foundation’s vocational services manager, and STARability participant Matt Martel plant florals in a raised bed.
River Park’s community garden is taking root with assistance from STARability Foundation.
Our Daily Bread Food Pantry has returned to the Naples Botanical Garden to distribute 30 pounds of food to families from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month. The remaining scheduled dates are Feb. 24, March 24, April 28 and May 26.
Paradise Coast Sports Complex Stadium has donated 100 soccer balls to 10 Collier County middle school teams.
Collier Resource Center and Collier County Services for Seniors provided a new air conditioning unit to local resident, 89-year-old Margaret Smith.
Charles Ahearn from The Ray Foundation presents The Immokalee Foundation with a check for $1,000,000.
The Wasie Foundation pledged a $1 million matching grant to help support The Immokalee Foundation. The Ray Foundation met the match with an additional $1 million.
The total raised at the 16th annual Empty Bowls event was $230,000.
The Dexter F. and Dorothy H. Baker Foundation awarded New Horizons of SWFL a two-year $60,000 grant to support its after-school Super Teens and Super Kids Clubs.
Sunshine Ace Hardware raised $52,913.60 in 2021 to help provide world-class pediatric care at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and $28,225 to benefit Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. Total donations raised from all stores equaled $81,138.60.
David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health (DLC) received a $20,000 grant from the Moorings Park Foundation to provide uninsured and underinsured seniors 65 and older. It also received a $2,500 community fund grant from The Scripps Howard Foundation.
The SWFL Wine & Food Fest auction on Jan. 22 raised more than $2 million for SWFL Children’s Charities scholarships and beneficiaries, including Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.
Angela Fisher, Gary Tasman, Stephanie Hoffman
Cushman & Wakefield made a $10,000 donation to Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida.
Nate Kuhl of the HRM Custom Woodworking team
Naples Therapeutic Riding Center (NTRC), in partnership with the NTRC Young Professional Strides, hosted its first-ever, catch-and-release backwater fishing tournament, Reeling for Riders, raising $5,500.
Dick Shapiro (founder and volunteer Ophthalmologist at FLLEC), Olivia Pena (FLLEC Clinic Supervisor), Robin Goldstone Garcia (FLLEC Executive Director) and Steve Evangelista (Vasari)
Vasari Cares Foundation, Inc. recently awarded a $3,500 grant to the Florida Lions Eye Clinic, Inc. (FLLEC), specifically for the purchase of eye care equipment.
For consideration in Caught in the Act of Kindness, email an example of how an individual,
group or organization went above and beyond to help those in need to inspireme@ebellamag.com.
If you have a related high-resolution photo, please include that as well.
Lisa Gruenloh, founder of Purpose Journey® consulting, coaching and training, donated 385 writing journals to NCH frontline medical staff to support their well-being.
Emmanuel Communities, selected by the CDC Foundation, will participate in the Partnering for Vaccine Equity Program to serve Collier County.
Will & Anne Wittenborn, Diana & Scott Willis, Ryan Frost, Brad Phelps. Photo credit: Charlene Towe
Pace Center for Girls, Lee’s Believing in Girls Gala raised $208,000.
Business Management & Entrepreneurship students pose together after The Immokalee Foundation's Annual Shark Tank-themed event hosted at FGCU.
Hosted and matched by the Community Foundation of Collier County and the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, Give Where You Live Collier generated $4.3 million, giving 40 Collier County nonprofits a much-needed boost with donations, a $500,000 matching fund and $50,000 in prizes. The Richard M. Schultz Family Foundation also provided a $150,000 grant to The Immokalee Foundation.
The Holocaust Museum & Janet G. and Harvey D. Cohen Education Center received a $10,000 grant from Suncoast Credit Union.