Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation

Summer 2018… For the VYCCF there is no “time off”-- just another season to chart a course to a better community!

While most of us think about summer in Venice as a slower and quieter time on the Gulf Coast, I would ask you to “think again.” At the halfway point of 2018, your generosity and our Foundation Grants are swinging into action to ensure there is no “down time” in caring.

Here are some examples:

• In our Spring Grant Cycle, we provided a grant to the All Faiths Food Bank Summer Lunch Program. The local goal is to feed 40,000 young people who lose their school lunch programs the last day of school. Much of this food will be delivered in the Sprout Truck that our Foundation helped to fund three years ago.
• A Spring Grant to the SKY Family YMCA provides scholarships to young families as the Y embarks on the Sunshine Education Academy. Approximately 250 children of working families that are financially at risk will receive safe day care, educational enrichment to improve their readiness for the new school year, and nutritious breakfasts and lunches so that hunger is not an inhibitor to learning and thriving. Without this ground-breaking program, young working parents would be unable to afford a safe, nurturing environment while they work.
• Working with the Boys and Girls Club of Venice we are providing 10 youth sailing scholarships for use at the VYBA. Without these scholarships, the valuable lessons of teamwork, leadership, and sailing life-skills would be out of their reach financially. We often lament the loss of character building moments for our youth, but with opportunities like this, we take a positive step forward.
• Teaming with the Venice Art Center, young people nominated by the Venice area schools will attend art classes this summer. Our scholarship grant removes financial barriers to the visual arts and who knows, we may be sponsoring the next Monet.

This is just a sample of the never-ending impact your generosity provides through our Foundation. I hope you all have a wonderfully rewarding summer.

Respectfully submitted,
Don Healy, Chair

VYCCF Committee: Chair Don Healy, Treasurer John O'Donnell, Commodore Gus Olson, Lloyd Abbot, Joan Bowen (Board Rep), P/C Kerry Carper, Kevin Collins, P/C Joe Dombrowski, P/C Merle Graser, P/C Dick & Doris Guba, Babs Healy, Sylvia Hollister, Barbara Isaacson, Noni Lavelle, Warren Major, Paul Nasipak, Michael Nemser, Beth Piel, Dave Slaman, Ann Van Cott, Bill Walker

updated: July 2018 Currents