Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation

Our 2013 fund raising campaign ended on November 1 with total funds raised of over $90,000. This is a great tribute to the generosity and collective good will of the VYC membership. While the Foundation Committee has not yet met to finalize the fall 2013 grants, we anticipate 2013 grants to local area causes will be over $72,000. Total grants to our community in just three years will be over $128,000. You are part of making a difference in our community, and we offer heartfelt thanks for your support.

The new Foundation leadership, when nominated, will set the 2014 campaign goals and decide on the merits of and, if appropriate, select a 2014 Signature Project. You may wish to consider donating to the Foundation now to take advantage of a 2013 tax deduction. Your help now will certainly benefit our community, as 80% of donations are granted out each year with the balance used to support building the Foundation endowment.

The Foundation Committee review of grant applications considers the merits of grant requests and the ability of the VYCCF grant to make a difference, while ensuring that grants are used to support our local community. Many sponsoring service organizations have their foundations grounded to a religious organization; while some even have a specific religion in their name. All VYCCF grants support services offered by those charities without regard to religious affiliations of those helped.

Our VYC Foundation needs more than financial support to help our community. Volunteers are needed to run the Foundation, review grant requests and organize events. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about helping run the Foundation. To further support our Community outreach, we are planning a VYC Volunteer Day to sort food at All Faiths Food Bank. Please contact me if you wish to help in this fun effort and look for e-blasts about the event.

Sprout is expected to be delivered to All Faiths Food Bank in early December, and the Venice Yacht Club will host a press conference where VYC members will christen the mobile farm pantry. Please look for an e-blast with details on this celebration. We appreciate the support of Gulf Coast Community Foundation in our Signature Project with their grant of $10,000 in partnership funds.

VYCCF Committee: Chair Michael F. Nemser,
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…