CAMPAIGN NEWS

Save the Date.

This years United Way South Sarasota County Campaign kickoff will be Thursday September 18th 2008 at 11:30 a.m. The lunch will be held at the Plantation Golf and Country Club on Rockley Blvd. For reservations or directions please call 408-0595 or e-mail steve@uwssc.com. Choices of menu are Chicken Cobb Salad or Quiche. Reservations are $25.00 per person and tables of eight or ten are available.

Sharky's announces their United Way Dine Out Day will be Monday August 25th 2008. Save room for good food and great views.

Campaign Cabinet Named for 2008-2009 Camapign.

Kevin Cox accepts the nomination as Campaign Cabinet Chair for the 2008-2009 United Way of South Sarasota County annual campaign. Joining Kevin on his committee is Terri Britton, Esther Bird, Bonnie Cox, Melinda Mudge, Campbell Retnolds, Eric Robinson, Mark Sabuda, Dick Dodderidge and Pat Ryan.

It was a packed house at the Crow's Nest on Thursday July 24th for their annual United Way Dine out Day. Many thanks to all who enjoyed the great food and fine ambiance. Many thanks also to Steve Harner and his team for their support. 10% of the days proceeds in addition to employee contributions made this day a special day at the Crow's Nest and a generous day for the support of our community needs.

July 2008. Venice MainStreet has teamed up with the United Way of South Sarasota County and will hold a Venice MainStreet Dine Out Day. On July 16th local restaurants and businesses will donate a portion of their days proceeds to benefit our local United Way. Look for the United Way sign posted in their windows downtown and your patronage will support our forty-four locally funded programs. Many thanks to all who agreed to participate in such a generous day of giving. 

June 2008. Mission accomplished was the word upon receiving the campaign results from the Venice Gondolier Sun. The goal of $750,000 has been surpassed anounced Campaign Chair Melinda Mudge. With agency allocations just around the corner it is fitting that we are able to make this announcement. Of course we want to keep on going as we know the needs of our community have grown substantially over this past year. We have until July 31st to complete our final phase, and then on August 1st we start on our 2008/2009 campaign chaired by Kevin Cox. Many thanks to everyone who played a part in achieving this goal - especially our Volunteers, our Board of Directors, Campaign Coordinators and most especially the generosity of those who contributed and supported our mission.   

May 2008. Campaign Goal Almost There. Melinda Mudge, Campaign Chair for the 2007-2008 campaign announced that currently the United Way of South Sarasota had achieved $746,669 towards the annual goal of $750,000. The campaign runs through July 31st 2008 and optimism is the word of the day. Melinda announced that "Goals are great but are meant to be broken, and in this case that's what we fully intend to do". "To help us surpass our goal please go to donate and fill out your pledge". "This is a tough time for many families and children and we need all the help you can give us"  

March 2008. Bay Indies residents once again surpassed their United Way Campaign Goal of $20,000. This is now the third year in a row that Bay Indies residents have opened their hearts and their checkbooks to lend support to our United Way and the forty-four agency funded programs. Many thanks to the Bay Indies United Way Board of Directors, for the stella work of Don Archer and Dave Prosser and to all of the residents who participated. Our hats off to you for running the only combined residential campaign in the South County.

December 2007. The City of North Port announced their results for the United Way of South Sarasota County 2007/2008 campaign. An amazing 400% increase over last year. "Streaking through the $10,000 goal" as Danny Schult shared "is the benchmark for next years campaign" Congratulations and many thanks to all of the City of North Port employees who generously gave. Just recently Children First opened their doors in North Port and very soon the Florida Center for Child and Family Development and the Child Protection Center will be able to serve North Port families in need of their services. The support and generosity of the employees of the City of North Port certainly goes towards helping establish these very much needed services.

November 2007. In the banking arena Sun Trust Bank achieved the number one leadership role for support of South County United Way. Employees of Sun Trust bank donated during the 2007-2008 campaign an outstanding $14,725 that in turn will be used to support forty-four local programs in the South County. Beating out their rivals by contributing over double what their closest banking competitor achieved obviously speaks volumes for their leadership and involvement in their local community. Sun Trust has maintained a leadership role of support for the South County United Way for many years and by doing so have directly had an impact in touching, changing and improving the lives of children and families in need. This gift of support is a legacy that is truly very much appreciated.

NEWS & EVENTS

Most Recent Event.

Saturday February 23rd, 2008. The second annual United Way Agency Walk-A-Thon was attended by well over 380 walkers representing local companies and agencies. A beautiful day of sunshine greeted the walkers. M.C. Bob Mudge welcomed the crowd recognizing the many different groups participating and then Vice Mayor John Moore gave a ready, start, go to the walkers who set out on their four mile round trip walk. Awards for the most walkers and most amount of money raised went to Publix Super Markets. The team spirit award went to Dennis Stover from the Senior Friendship Center for walking the entire route backwards. This amazing bravado increased his pledges by double. Music, Hotdogs, refreshments and good times were had by all. Over $16,500 was raised for the event with 50% of the designated pledges going back to the sponsor agency of choice and 50% going towards the United Way of South Sarasota's annual campaign. Many thanks to the Walk-A-Thon committee chaired by Dave Pierce and co-chaired by Terri Britton for a great event.

Wednesday December 5th, 2007. Over 150 children visited Summerville at Venice to participate in the annual Holiday with a Heart event. First order of the day was cookies and punch kindly donated and provided by Publix. Then on to meet Santa who gave gifts to all girls and boys to take home for Mom, Dad or their caregiver. Many thanks to Gifts in Kind for providing the presents and to the ladies from the Women's Initiative for spending many hours of wrapping. After Santa (played with such gusto by Hal Hedley from the Child Protection Center) Christmas Carols were sung by the very talented Wanna Be's and United Way of South Sarasota County campaign chair, Melinda Mudge. A special thanks to the Women's Sertoma Club of Venice for their volunteer time and to Summerville at Venice for providing such a great location to hold this event.

Saturday October 13th, 2007. A picture perfect day was provided for the 14th United Way of South Sarasota Annual Foundation Golf Tournament. A full field of players enjoyed a great lunch followed by a tee off time at 1:00 pm. More great food followed at the awards banquet. Raffle prizes included a Kayak, a patio bar and chairs, barbeque grills, an annual family membership to the YMCA, and much more. Contributions and sponsors checks are still coming in so stay tuned for our net amount which is expected to be at an all time high. Many thanks to all volunteers especially the magnificant trio of Brent Pinkerton, Evan Duke and Kevin Cox.

Thursday September 20th, 2007. The United Way of South Sarasota County 2007/2008 campaign kickoff lunch at the Plantation Golf and Country Club was attended by over three hundred guests. Mary Gonter, Board President for 2007/2008 welcomed the guests with many thanks for their support. Brent Pinkerton handed out the plaques to the Sponsors of the United Way Foundation Tournament to be held at Pelican Pointe Golf and Country Club on October 13th. Recognized as event sponsor was Raymond James and Associates and as Gold Sponsors, Venice Gondolier Sun, Publix Super Markets, Peacock, Robinson and Hanks PA, Managed Capital LLC, JIMCO Maintenance and Purpose Insurance Group. Melinda Mudge Campaign Chair for 2007/2008 deliverd an inspiring overview of United Way and the impact local community donations are having in the lives of over 16,000 families living in the South County area. To kick off campaign the Sertoma Club of Venice presented a contribution check for $1,000, the Women's Sertoma Club presented a check for $1,000 and the Venice Nokomis Rotary Club presented a check for $2,000. Hal Hedley the Executive Director of the Child Protection Center then introduced a true community hero, Mimi, who told a very quiet audience her life experince with abuse as a young child and how she managed to overcome the odds and the pain because of the support of the Child Protection Center and United Way funding. Bob Vedder was then recognized as a retiring board member and Evan Duke for his serving as Board President for 2006/2007. They both received a plaque in honor of their service. The Volunteer of the year award was then presented to an extremelly active volunteer. Someone as Mary explained is always there to help, serve and make it happen - Dave Pierce

Previous Events

Wednesday March 28th 2007 - Publix Charities Presents Check

Publix Charities presented to the United Way of South Sarasota a check in the amount of $126,900. The presentation took place at the Publix Super Market at the Jacaranda Blvd location in Venice. Presenting the check to United Way of South Sarasota County Board President Evan Duke were Terry Ball District Manager and Shannon Patten Manager of Media and Community Relations.Also present were United Way board members Dave Pierce, Campbell Reynolds, Bob Vedder, Ira Paul and Kathy Castellano. Agencies attending were Jewish Family and Children's Service, Loveland Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters and The Florida Center for Child and Family Development. Publix Asociates also attending the presentation were Jean Andreu, Amanda Bernel, Ruthane McDaniel and Stephanie Jansen. Publix Super Markets and Publix Charities are top supporter of the United Way of South Sarasota and their generosity is a major part of the United Way of South Sarasota County's ability to fund twenty-six agencies that provide forty local programs that touch, change and improve lives.