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Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation
Charting a course to a better community…
Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation End of Year Report 2025
Updated Nov 2025
Dear Venice Yacht Club Members:
This year has been exceptionally kind to Venice Yacht Club members and the entire Venice community. We are grateful that we have not had to contend with hurricanes or severe weather events.
We are blessed by the remarkable generosity of VYC membership, their friends, and family members. We are also grateful for our hardworking, talented committee volunteers who donate their time and energy to the Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation (VYCCF), many of whom have served for over 10 years. Without their dedication, we would not achieve success and fundraising results we do. Please see their names at the end of this report.
Grant Programs and Community Impact
In 2025, we increased our spending budget to $170,000, including the VYBA pass-through donation from VYC. During the first grant cycle, we donated $76,000 to 15 local organizations. In the second cycle, we voted to support another 18 worthy local nonprofits. We also received an additional member-directed gift to Our Mother's House this year, bringing our total donations for 2025 to $172,500.
- The Neuro Challenge Foundation, dedicated to providing support and guidance for those afflicted with Parkinson's disease
- Sarasota Bay Watch, providing educational and marine science opportunities to young volunteers while helping to keep the Gulf healthy
- Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, committed to scientific education and research of our oceans
Annual Events
8th Annual Bike/Walk Ride for a Better Community
The 8th Annual Bike/Walk Ride for a Better Community was a tremendous success. With perfect weather, the club welcomed close to 300 volunteers, riders, sponsors, and club members back for a great breakfast following the ride and walk. We raised $110,000. We also presented three grant checks in the amount of $5,000 each to All Faiths Food Bank, Our Mother's House, and Children First.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated. This event would not be possible without the help of the VHS Jr. ROTC cadets and support from the Venice Police Department, who helped keep riders safe. We are especially grateful to our incredible event chairs—Dave Slaman, Steve Bieglecki, and Steve Selbo—who worked nearly a year in advance to ensure a successful event.
Jazz Under the Stars
On April 17, we held our ever-popular Jazz Under the Stars event, which sold out as usual. It was a perfect Venice Yacht Club evening with a clear night sky. We featured a wine grab and a wine basket auction. Special thanks to Kyle Brooks for donating extraordinary bottles of wine and champagne.
We presented two checks that evening to Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Good Samaritan Pharmacy & Health Services. Thanks to our VYCCF Event Chair Karla Olson, Co-chair Joi Nemke, and the event committee, the evening was perfect. The decorations, food, and music by The Savannah Brady Trio were outstanding.
Jimmy Buffett "Parrot-Head" Party
Our final event of the year, the Jimmy Buffett "Parrot-Head" party on Saturday, October 11, was an outstanding success. Over 180 guests attended the event, which featured fabulous Parrot-head decorations, prizes, and fun games. Thanks again to the spectacular event team of Karla Olson and Joi Nemke—every detail was choreographed to perfection with help from committee and non-committee volunteers. Costumes, prizes, music by Lefty Lucy Band and the food were all amazing!
Grant Check Presentations
Throughout the summer, we made several check presentations following our monthly committee meetings. We hosted five or six organizations at the same time, which provided a great opportunity for different nonprofits to meet each other. In October, we visited Venice High School and made a check presentation to the VHS JROTC Cadets. Their leader and instructor, Capt. Dean Krom, gave us an outstanding overview of the entire cadet program. We also witnessed a demonstration of the cadets' obstacle course, which the foundation helped support.
It has been an amazing year. We thank you again for your generosity and continued support. Total impact since inception, the foundation has made grants and gifts totaling $1,448,735.
Sincerely,
Sylvia Hollister – 2025 VYCCF Board Chair
Together we are Charting a Course for a Better Community
Our mission is to “mobilize the collective goodwill of our community, to improve the lives of our neighbors, including those who are most vulnerable”.
Your 2025 Volunteer VYCCF “Committee of Leaders”
Sylvia Hollister, Dave Slaman, Haydn Fusia, Sandy Welch, Fran Jeffrey, John O’Donnell, Joi Nemke, Kevin Collins, Pamela Phildius, Barbara Isaacson, Noni Lavelle, Barbi Richardson, Beth Piel, Anne Van Cott, Cherie Major, Karla Olson, Kimberly Spearman, Joyce Mierzejwski, Steve Selbo, Linda Kwasny, and Shawn Kelly.
Please feel free to reach out to any of these committee and board members with questions regarding projects and programs of the VYCCF.
Dear Fellow Club Members:
Thanks so much to one and all who made our Jimmy Buffet Parrothead Party event such a great success! Not only was it a blast, but it garnered more than $10,000 for the VYCCF, which will enable more grants for the organizations we support. This sold-out party will now be an ANNUAL event, says Karla Olson who chaired the festivities, along with co-chair Joi Nemke. “But we couldn’t have done it without our generous donors and sponsors,” Olson notes. Check out the photos from that wonderful evening on the website: {link to web}
One of those worthy groups which was recently given a $6,500 grant is the Venice High School Junior Marine Corps ROTC (VHS-JROTC) program. The group enrolls approximately 100 cadets each year, reports Dave Slaman, VYCCF’s ambassador to the organization. “In addition to their normal high school classes, these young men and women learn leadership and management skills, military history, and public service among other things. This exposure gives them a great vantage point to explore the military as a possible career,” Slaman explains. “But regardless of their ultimate career path, the JROTC program opens so many doors to the students and is an enriching experience on all levels.” The VHS-JROTC’s public service is on display at VYC events such as the Annual Ride and Stride for a Better Community.
Our next annual fundraising event is the Annual Ride and Stride for a Better Community—so mark your calendars now for February 15. Walkers are also increasing our numbers-- so don’t worry if you don’t feel like lugging out your bike, helmet and gear. The walk is approximately 1.2 miles and is full of camaraderie!
Appreciatively,
Barbi Richardson, VYCCF Currents Editor
Please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VeniceYachctClubCharitableFoundation/
updated: November 2025 Currents
Dear Fellow Club Members:
Familiar faces, too long unseen, are reappearing at the Club—and this can only mean one thing—the “season” is nearing and hopefully some milder, cooler temps are in the forecast! Bringing snowbirds, avid travelers and all members up-to date on VYCCF activities of recent:
First and foremost, the Foundation’s first annual Jimmy Buffett “Parrot Head” Party is on for Oct 11. The event is almost sold out, so call in your reservation today! All proceeds go to the many great organizations the VYCCF supports. Event planners extraordinaire Karla Olson and Joi Nemke suggest bringing some $20 bills for a heads and tails raffle of dinner for 4 at Fins. There will also be a silent auction of three high-end framed pieces of art featuring Jimmy Buffet memorabilia! Music will be provided by the Lefty Lucy Band with specialty margaritas and appetizers starting at 6 p.m. in the Cove with dinner following at 7. AND it is not too late to be a sponsor for this important event—you have until Oct 6 to consider becoming a sponsor and really helping our community! Sponsors will be recognized the evening of the event and sponsorships are available at all levels. Forms are at the Club’s front desk.
This summer saw the VYCCF make grants to several groups, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Sea Scouts Ship 1777, the Wildlife Center of Venice, Sarasota Bay Watch, Boy Scouts of America Troop #77, and the Friends of Venice Public Library (see below), among others.
This first-time grant from VYCCF to the Friends of the Venice Public Library will help pay for copies of The Kids’ Guide to Birds of Florida by Stan Tekiela to those local children participating in the Venice Area Audubon’s 2nd grade birdwatching program. Friends of the Library’s mission is to bolster and expand the traditional role of the library as an anchor in the community and to help fund things not in the library’s budget, explains Kevin Collins, VYCCF’s ambassador to the group. Friends also helps purchase computer software and E-books as well as library furnishings, Collins says. For more info, visit their website at venicefriends.org.
Hope to see you October 11 at the Jimmy Buffett bash!!
In Appreciation,
Barbi Richardson, VYCCF Currents Editor
Please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VeniceYachctClubCharitableFoundation/
updated: October 2025 Currents
$1,448,735
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