GOOD DEEDS: Grants target youths recovering from Hurricane Ian

Gulf Coast Community Foundation recently provided three grants to support youths who have been tremendously impacted by Hurricane Ian.

Gulf Coast gave $10,000 to Girls on the Run Southwest Florida from the Hurricane Ian Recovery Initiative for scholarships for students in Charlotte, DeSoto and Lee counties.

The organization provides an opportunity for children to participate in an after-school activity without a financial barrier.

Meanwhile, students from Cork Elementary, in Plant City, raised over $2,200 each for Gulf Coast’s Hurricane Ian Recovery Initiative and Suncoast Humane Society Englewood.

Additionally, Gulf Coast awarded a $10,000 grant to Mothers Helping Mothers for financial assistance for families impacted by Hurricane Ian. Some of the families it serves lost wages, housing and their belongings.

The all-volunteer organization has been helping families where the need is great, through churches and pop-up trailers with diapers, car seats, clothes and more.

Doherty Enterprises, owner of the Applebee’s in Punta Gorda, recently presented Camelot Community Care, a nonprofit serving children and families experiencing abuse, neglect, and behavioral health and substance abuse issues, with a donation for $4,000.

The money was raised from Applebee’s Hometown Hero program, which donated $1 to charity from each kid’s meal sold Dec. 5-10.

This year’s winner in the Hometown Hero program is Lisa Alvarez, a server at the Punta Gorda restaurant who was recognized for her decades-long work fostering children in need.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Grants for hurricane relief, money raised for foster program