GOOD DEEDS

Urwa Hameed, Maly Sears and Tan Vu are the winners of the 2018 Heritage Scholarship from DutchCrafters, the largest online retailer of Amish Furniture. The three recipients of the annual Heritage Scholarship each receive $500 to assist with the costs of their undergraduate tuition.

Selection criteria included grade-point average, a statement of financial need and a 750-word essay on how their heritage has shaped them and their aspirations.

DutchCrafters is based in Sarasota, where it opened a showroom in 2016.

As part of its Spirit Day program, BurgerFi Sarasota recently donated $1,500 to six local charities. BurgerFi donates 15 percent of the revenue generated from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the day of the fundraiser.

Charities benefiting from BurgerFi’s recent donation were Komen Suncoast Florida, Goodwill Manasota, Humane Society of Sarasota County, Manatee Healthcare System on behalf of the American Cancer Society, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County and Lakewood Ranch High School.

The Florida Swimming Pool Association once again has provided generous support to a Gulf Coast Community Foundation initiative that offers free water-safety training to public-school second-graders in Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

FSPA's statewide Swimming Pool Education and Safety Foundation and the organization’s local Manasota and Charlotte Harbor chapters recently contributed a total of $4,000 to support the Kids SWIM (Safe Water Instruction Matters) program through Gulf Coast. Kids SWIM funds and coordinates a week’s worth of free swimming lessons for second-graders at participating schools in the two districts.

The donations include $2,000 for lessons in Sarasota County and $2,000 for lessons in Charlotte County during the upcoming school year.

Goodwill Manasota recently received a grant of $75,000 from the Ralph S. French Charitable Foundation in support of the GoodPartner Coach program. This is the eighth year that Goodwill has received funding from the French Foundation for this purpose.

The GoodPartner Coach program offers job training and case management services to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment. The goal is to enable those who may have been overlooked elsewhere to gain positive personal and workplace behaviors and skills, feel the pride of earning a paycheck and move toward self-sufficiency, build a strong work history and develop the experience and skills to position them for higher paying jobs outside of Goodwill.

Through the program, team members participate in a career needs assessment, develop an individualized case management plan and then go through training components to reach ultimate desired outcomes. Job performance and educational benchmarks are set, providing clear expectations for career advancement readiness.

Sarasota Youth Sailing welcomed a group of 30 children and chaperones from theBradenton Dream Center in July. The sailors hosted lunch at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron before taking the children sailing and swimming on Sarasota Bay.

For most of the children, this was their first experience on a boat and splashing in the bay. Sarasota Youth Sailing hosts youth summer camps, learn-to-sail classes and year-round racing for competitive sailors.

The Bradenton Dream Center serves elementary-aged youth in the downtown Bradenton area by providing safe and cost-free programs that restore hope and positively impact youths. Both are nonprofit organizations.

The Hayes family closed recently on the sale of their first home and chose to dedicate half of their Catalist Realty commission donation to the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.

The donation was originally marked at $1,105. Prior to closing on the house, Catalist Realty proposed a more strategic donation strategy that included utilizing the Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Giving Challenge to achieve additional matched funds from its partner, the Patterson Foundation. This resulted in a final donation amount of $1,905.

This donation is unrestricted, allowing the Education Foundation to spend the money in the most critical area of need at the time. Unrestricted donations are the largest need for nonprofits, and typically the hardest donations to attract.