GOOD DEEDS: Food Bank grant allows youth shelter to buy large freezer

Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read
Alan Abernathy and Karen Rapp, of Safe Children Coalition Youth Shelter, with the new freezer purchased in part with a grant from All Faiths Food Bank.
Alan Abernathy and Karen Rapp, of Safe Children Coalition Youth Shelter, with the new freezer purchased in part with a grant from All Faiths Food Bank.

All Faiths Food Bank awarded Safe Children Coalition a Capacity Building Grant of $2,000 to help purchase a new, large-capacity freezer for SCC’s Youth Shelter.

The grant was awarded after an aging and unreliable freezer at the Youth Shelter broke down; the remaining freezer – at just 6 cubic feet – made it difficult for the shelter staff to keep a sufficient supply of food on hand without shopping frequently.

At 47 cubic feet, the new freezer makes it possible to purchase items in bulk and reduce staff time dedicated to shopping for the youths staying at the shelter.

It also will enable SCC to accept more meats and perishable items, such as fresh produce, during the twice-monthly distributions of food from All Faiths Food Bank.

Safe Children Coalition’s Youth Shelter is a safe place for children who are homeless, have run away, are ungovernable, truant, or at risk of becoming homeless.

Up to 20 youths ages 10 to 17 are housed at any given time and provided three meals and two snacks daily. The shelter serves approximately 200 youths annually.

All services are provided free of charge to every youth in need.

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received $5,000 from the Sarasota Kiwanis Foundation for Gateways to Graduation.

Through Gateways to Graduation, a One to One Mentoring Program, BBBSSC serves 8th-12th grade students who have been identified by school personnel as unlikely to earn grade-level promotion or graduate from high school.

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The Anna V. Pfister, Nellie Mae Koss and Helen K. Hadden Memorial Endowment Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation has awarded Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast a $10,000 grant.

The money will support the agency’s fundraising events throughout Sarasota County. The organization serves a 10-county footprint and hosts a fundraising event in each of its locations.

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BankUnited awarded $7,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast.

The grant will serve Sarasota, Manatee and Collier County high school students through the One to One Mentoring program, with a focus on financial literacy, high school graduation and a viable plan for a financially secure future, through enrollment in higher education, the military or employment that can offer financial stability.

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The Wilson-Wood Foundation awarded $15,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast for its One-to-One Mentoring Program for elementary students, with a focus on Reading Bigs in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

Through its One to One Mentoring Program for elementary school students, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast meets the academic, behavioral and socioemotional needs of at-risk youths.

The Reading Bigs initiative serves students whose reading proficiency is below the minimum standards set by the student’s school board.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Youth shelter buys larger freezer with grant from food bank