West Coast Woman Sept. 2020 Issue

just some
thoughts
Louise Bruderle
Editor and Publisher
So here we are—a first ever all-digital West Coast Woman.
Call it the WCW e-edition, WCW e-zine or the WCW flip book.
It truly feels strange, but also…I kinda like it. No worrying
about drivers, delivery trucks, wondering about the weather,
press delays or if the colors in the ads will be printed carefully.
The downside? No tangible paper to hold and turn. No
watching the old guys at the Y reading WCW page after page.
No going to events and handing them out. I could also add less
revenue, but there are businesses suffering a lot more.
You’re reading this on your desktop in your home or office
(which these days might be one and the same) or on your smartphone
or iPad. Like the print version, you can flip back and
forth, forwards and backwards and save as long as you want.
Unlike the print version, you can download the “paper” and
print it all, or print a single page, and, you can even forward it
to friends by using a link. Here’s hoping in October we can do
print AND the flip book. But for now, this is a good stand-in.
This month: Honoring
the Heroes at Sarasota
Memorial Hospital
This month’s cover was an easy choice: the
folks who save lives and help us get better:
The heroes at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System—our
hospital—is an 839-bed regional
medical center. It has almost 7,000 staff and
is Sarasota County’s largest employer. The
hospital’s Medical Staff includes more than
1,400 providers who represent 60 specialties.
Advice from Sarasota Memorial: “The best
thing we can do as a community is to stay
informed and take common-sense precautions
to guard against this and other viruses:
mask use, hand hygiene, physical distancing
and staying home when you’re sick. Wearing a face covering
— ideally a mask — is recommended when you may come in
close contact (6 feet or less) with someone from outside your
household, especially for a prolonged period (10-15 minutes or
more) and especially indoors.”
Special thanks to Kim Savage, PIO/Spokesperson at Sarasota
Memorial Health Care System for getting WCW the images. And
heartfelt thanks to all of you who work at SMH! We LOVE you!
Coming Up in Sarasota
Stay tuned. Evolving. Paused. I’m reading those words a lot.
Arts organizations understandably are trying to keep some
sort of performance schedule, albeit with adjustments. But
since June, WCW has received releases that have shown July
events canceled, August events canceled, September events
canceled. A few October events are hanging out there with
hope. Some November events are on. But not all.
Others have taken their remaining 2020 events online (such
as The Sarasota Ballet and the Sarasota Opera), and some
have pushed their season to 2021 and scrapped 2020.
As tragically sad as this is, I also have gotten numerous
releases about individual donors, the state, foundations and
other sources providing funds to keep nonprofits going.
Here are just a few of the stories of generosity I want
to share…
L to R: Trish Newman, LWRWC Philanthropy Co-Chair
with her “ambassador” dog Wrigley, and Helene Levin and
Cheryl Breining, LWRWC Co-Presidents.
■ Example One:
In August, Lakewood Ranch Women’s Club (LWRWC) donated
$3,000 in cash and donations, including 35 backpacks filled
with school supplies and a check for $1,800 to HOPE Family
Services (HOPE) in Manatee County.
LWRWC held a Backpack Challenge for HOPE to provide
children at the domestic violence shelter with backpacks filled
with school supplies. Donors dropped off filled backpacks at
designated homes and/or sent money.
The donations were delivered to the shelter by Women’s Club
members: LWRWC Philanthropy Co-Chair Trish Newman, and
LWRWC Co-Presidents Helene Levin and Cheryl Breining.
There were 24 children at the shelter who started school and
will attend their classes virtually due to the pandemic. With
a donation of 35 backpacks, the shelter has reserves for kids
coming to HOPE over the next few months. The LWRWC donation
also funded critically needed food and cleaning supplies
to ensure a healthy and safe environment for families at HOPE.
HOPE assists those whose lives have been affected by domestic
violence. They offer victims and survivors of domestic
violence services including Emergency Safe Shelter, advocacy,
counseling, children’s services, and specialized programs.
For HOPE, visit www.hopefamilyservice.org. For LWRWC,
visit www.lwrwc.org.
■ Example Two:
All Faiths Food Bank received matching gifts through the Joe
and Mary Kay Henson Family Fund and an anonymous donor
through Community Foundation of Sarasota County totaling
$600,000.
Hunger has been
an ongoing problem
in our region for many
years, but COVID-19 has
exacerbated the need,
leaving many families
with uncertain futures.
Of that, $500,000
came from the Joe
and Mary Kay Henson
Family Fund and an
anonymous donor from
Joe and Mary Kay Henson
the Community Foundation
of Sarasota County was inspired to give an additional
$100,000, adding up to $600,000.
“We are a family fund devoted to supporting the needs of
children and adults living in poverty. The currently unemployed
are a vital part of our community and key to our
economic well-being,” said Joe and Mary Kay Henson. “This
virus is not going away any time soon … and what All Faiths
Food Bank is doing is tremendously vital for these families
and children. The entire community has to rally around to
support and protect families during the ongoing crisis.”
Since the pandemic ramped up in March, All Faiths has
seen an overall increase in need of approximately 120%, with
new clients increasing nearly 45%. The demand for food will
remain critically high for a long time to come as people continue
to face significant financial strain.
“In order for those most affected by the crisis to have hope
for rebuilding their lives, their basic need for food must be
met,” said All Faiths Food Bank CEO Sandra Frank.
Contact All Faiths at allfaithsfoodbank.org or call 941-
379-6333.
■ Example Three:
“This year has called for sustained action to strengthen our
most vulnerable systems and the people they help,” says Teri
A Hansen, president and CEO of Barancik Foundation. “Humanitarian
efforts are being pushed to their limit. Yet, we are
hopeful that positives will emerge as we all reimagine ways to
serve our community.”
Together with its donors and Charles & Margery Barancik
Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation has awarded
over $2.7 million in direct grants to nonprofit organizations
for COVID-19 relief.
That total includes more than $1.1 million funded from
the COVID-19 Response Initiative, a joint initiative of Gulf Coast
and Barancik Foundation to support immediate and long-term
needs in the region arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
Grants are funding services including virtual mental-health
counseling for children and for veterans, childcare
for first responders, and food and financial assistance for
displaced hospitality workers, foster families, and others.
Additionally, donors to Gulf Coast have directed nearly $1
million in grants from their donor funds at the foundation for
COVID-19 impacts locally and beyond.
■ Harvest House
Here are some of the recipients: Harvest House, which
provides housing for Sarasota County residents overcoming
homelessness or addiction. A grant to buy laptop computers
for staff is allowing case managers to continue counseling residents
remotely, while their desktop computers have been repurposed
for safe use by those same clients for job searching.
Then there’s CenterPlace Health, which offers primary
healthcare to Medicaid patients, received funds to quickly
transition to a telehealth model. “Telehealth will allow us to
continue providing care to all of our patients—especially
our pregnant moms and babies,” said Melissa Parker, president
and CEO of CenterPlace Health, which cares mostly for
women and children.
A grant to SKY Family YMCA has enabled it to offer
professional childcare to emergency responders and other
essential healthcare personnel. These front-line workers have
seen demand for their services increase at the same time
that school closures leave them with no safe place for their
children during the day.
Other recipients include: Tidewell Hospice, Easterseals
Southwest Florida, First Step of Sarasota, Florida Center for
Early Childhood, Tri-County Counseling and Life Skills Center,
Family Network on Disabilities, Good Samaritan Pharmacy
& Health Services, Operation Warrior Resolution, Goodwill
Manasota, CareerEdge, CareerSource Suncoast. Women’s
Resource Center, Gulfcoast Legal Services, Capital Good
Fund, The Salvation Army of Sarasota, Meals on Wheels of
Sarasota, All Faiths Food Bank, Harvest House, SPARCC (Safe
Place and Rape Crisis Center), The New College Foundation,
Family Promise of South Sarasota County, HOPE for North
Port, UnidosNow, Laurel Civic Association, The TWIG Cares,
Early Learning Coalition of Florida’s Heartland, Children
First, Education Foundation of Sarasota County, Suncoast
Technical College, First Responders, Boys & Girls Clubs of
Sarasota County, Denise Amber Lee Foundation, Boys & Girls
Clubs of Sarasota County, Teen Court of Sarasota, Big Brothers
Big Sisters of the Suncoast and Safe Children Coalition.
■ Example 4:
JFCS of the Suncoast has disbursed $475,727 since April to
families in Sarasota and Manatee counties experiencing
financial hardship resulting from COVID-19. JFCS established
the JFCS COVID-19 Emergency Hardship Fund in late March.
A $250,000 lead gift from the Louis & Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic
Trust initially funded the program.
“During their lifetimes, Gloria and Lou Flanzer strongly
believed in JFCS’ mission to support people in need. JFCS has
shown leadership during this unprecedented time and, as
members of our community, we are grateful that their efforts
have offered critical support to so many,” said Eric Kaplan,
Flanzer Trust co-trustee.
The JFCS COVID-19 Emergency Hardship Fund has provided
assistance to more than 350 families for rent, utilities,
transportation, food and other basic needs.
For JFCS, contact Arthur Lerman at 941 366-2224. Visit
www.jfcs-cares.org.
Louise Bruderle | Editor and Publisher |
westcoastwoman@comcast.net
We welcome your thoughts and comments on this column and on other columns and features in this issue.
You can reach us at westcoastwoman@comcast.net. We’re on the web at www.WestCoastWoman.com.
4 WEST COAST WOMAN SEPTEMBER 2020