Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation

Fellow Members,
We’ve done it – well, almost! We funded a $30,000 grant to All Faiths Food Bank, which with $10,000 in partnership funding from Gulf Coast Community Foundation, will be used to purchase a larger Sprout to complete our 2013 signature project, Build a Truck - Feed the Hungry. Thank you VYC members who supported our commitment to be the primary sponsor of this mobile produce pantry. The larger truck will serve more in-need families than the van originally envisioned, some 600 people per week versus 250, and distribute 64,000 pounds of fresh produce annually versus 28,000 pounds.
But our work is not done. We raised $80,000 of our $100,000 goal. We must raise another $20,000 by November 1. Please consider donating now to the Foundation as you do your year-end tax planning by clicking the “donate now” button on the VYC web site.

Vice Chair Dewey Snowden and I visited director Sheila Miller and case coordinator Beth Piel at Child Protection Center in Venice. CPC provides a safe and positive way for children to visit with parents as families go through difficult and transitional times in private, child-friendly rooms, monitored by trained, volunteer supervisors. Such visits may be court ordered due to problems with divorce, domestic violence, and abuse or neglect. Our spring cycle grant funded police security when more volatile cases are scheduled for visitation. We are proud to join CPC in recognizing that “protecting children is everyone’s job.”

Our grant to Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center (“SPARCC”) funded a Child Advocate in Venice to provide counseling and advocacy for children whose parents are in violent relationships. The advocate works to relieve distress and emotional trauma experienced by these children caught in the middle.
We provided Community Haven for Adult and Children with Disabilities a grant to equip an athletic quad to promote sound, healthy living for those with disabilities by engaging both body and mind in support programs. Community Haven has empowered the lives of more than 700 people with disabilities since 1954.

Our fall grant cycle closes on November 1. Please submit grant applications on behalf of your favorite local charities that support youth boating, health and education, veterans and active military, the environment and civic improvement. Applications are simple and can be found under the Charitable Foundation tab on the VYC web site. There you can also view all the VYCCF grants and track our progress against our fundraising goal.

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…