Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation

Fellow Members,
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We had a wonderfully successful June 15 Sprout Launch Party, hosted with the Tiki Committee. The 139 members and guests who attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves and helped us raise a net $15,000 from bidding on the 64 auction items and donating for Sprout parts VYC naming rights. A highlight was a brief talk by Sandra Frank, Executive Director of All Faiths Food Bank. Added with the 77 donor members’ contributions, we have now surpassed the $78,000 mark against our $100,000 goal for the 2013 fund raising campaign ending October 31. Thank you to all who have supported the VYCCF and enthusiastically embraced our Build a Truck - Feed the Hungry project. Our VYCCF Captain’s Circle pins are seen all over the club; please express your appreciation for their support to those wearing pins.

Vice Chair Dewey Snowden and I visited with Kathy James and Liz Rigney at The Englewood Community Care Clinic, one of our spring cycle grantees. This free clinic, staffed by 25 volunteer doctors and 50 nurses, sees 15 to 20 patients two days per week from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.and provides uninsured patients with needed medical attention and referrals to other low cost or free medical providers such as Dollars for Mammograms. Interestingly, many of the patients received food from All Faiths Food Bank. Our grant was used to purchase needed medical equipment such as a bariatric blood pressure monitor and scale.

We also provided VYBA with funding for three scholarships for the Summer Learn to Sail Program, with one designated for a special needs child, and one scholarship for the year-round program. Grants to the VYBA in two and a half years total over $53,000.

We provided a grant to The State College of Florida Foundation to help build the Veterans Emergency Assistance Fund. There is an alarming increase in the number of veteran students facing an overwhelming challenge: a huge adjustment to no longer receiving active duty military pay and benefits coupled with attending school full time, while facing a huge delay from the VA before the student’s monthly benefits begin. This is leaving veteran students without funds to buy books and other necessities at a time when they are most in need. Our grant will facilitate “emergency” interventions for veterans to avoid jeopardizing completion of their post-secondary education.

You can view all the VYCCF grants and track our progress against our fund raising goal on our page on the VYC web site. You can also make a donation to the VYCCF by clicking on the “donate now” button on the web site. Remember, 80 cents of every dollar donated will go out into our community this year.

VYCCF Committee: Michael F. Nemser, Chair
Vice-Chair DuPont Snowden, Matt DePalma, Merle Graser, Jerry Jarrett, Elise John, John Moore and Board Rep Tony Zumbano.

Charting a course to a better community…