Venice Yacht Club Charitable Foundation

With summer fast approaching, when “the living is easy,” supposedly. You would not know that amongst our ranks on the VYCCF committee. We have been quite active spreading the “wealth” around our community to several very worthy groups and organizations.

We received a heartwarming thank you note from Family Promise of South Sarasota County for the $5,000 grant awarded to them at the Bike Ride Breakfast. Our own Beth Piel is President of the Board of Trustees. In part, it reads, “Thanks to you, Families like Curtis and his two boys, will have a safe, warm, and secure home again! . . . Curtis works two jobs putting in over 70 hours a week. Curtis and his boys were homeless for more than five months and applied for over 60 rentals without being approved for any.”

Another exciting announcement involves VABI (Venice Area Beautification, Inc.) which was established in 1990. Venetian Waterway Park is just one of VABI’s well known projects. Now this group is undertaking the creation of an Urban Forest. This will be a critical component, enhancing the City of Venice’s urban design, introduced by John Nolen in 1926. Currently volunteers are focusing on planting, weeding, and watering plants and trees at the project site, located between the Waterway Trail and the Seaboard Industrial Park. We have awarded them $8,000, which will receive matching funds to establish a Scrub Jay Habitat in the forest. We are very excited about helping with this project!

More recently, we awarded a grant of $2,500 to a wonderful organization, Good Samaritan Pharmacy. It provides free medication and medical services to the uninsured, or financially needy members of our community. They have a clinic which relies on volunteers including pharmacists and doctors. The pharmacy also distributes free over-the-counter medications.

Additionally, we gave a grant of $1,500 to the Venice Area Pregnancy Care Center. What an eye-opening experience this was! Did you know that the cost of a package of diapers is almost $20? And that a can of formula is $32? They also provide car seats, cribs, crib mattresses, clothes.

Please be sure and look for information on our next fun evening, “Rockin’ Pianos” June 2 in your Currents and make a reservation, please!

With sincere appreciation,
Noni Lavelle

Please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VeniceYachctClubCharitableFoundation/

updated: May 2022 Currents