The lady in the picture and the six other men are all representatives of organizations we supported in our most recent fundraising endeavor, the Gourmet Lawn Party. That event, held on the driving range of the Longboat Key Club-Islandside location, drew 28 restaurants plus other vendors offering beer, wine, flowers, etc. Admission was $25 and the food and drink were free once past the gate. We raised $50,000 and the group above benefitted from $30,000 of that total, with the balance set aside for the 2013 individual scholarship cycle of our club.
The organizations represented by the people in the photo were the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota, the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County (Bradenton), Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Sarasota, Children First of Sarasota and the Child Protection Center of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties. Our club meets 51 Thursday mornings each year (we take off Thanksgiving only) at the LBK Club-Harbourside location, and have programs each week. Many of the youth oriented charities come before us to speak, and we listen to their stories. Our club also is very involved in helping through others - we have been the highest revenue "Kettle" of the Salvation Army of Sarasota for the past three or four years. This year we stood outside and helped raise over $5,000 in front of our neighborhood PUBLIX grocery.
I'm now involved in helping make our Third Annual Valentine's Dinner Dance a success - we sold all seats (200) during the first two years, and hope to continue this year. Last year's "profits" resulted in over $15,000 toward our Foundation's gift programs. Once again, we'll have a big band dance and award a Citizen of the Year at the dinner dance. Not sure where I find the time, but Kiwanis (an old Indian word meaning "charity shakedown") is in my blood and my heart. As my Kiwanis shirt reads "It's all about the kids", we hold their futures in our hands.
