Newsletter
October 2016                 Vol. 7, No. 9
A note from our network director

Dear friends,

Look around you right now. What do you see?

A roof that doesn't leak.
A door that locks.
Food in the refrigerator.
Light when you hit the switch.
Water when you turn on the faucet.

How many things do you just take for granted every day? What would happen if you suddenly found yourself and your family without just one of those everyday miracles of modern life? So many daily tragedies can fall on families in our community, leaving them with nothing but fear and worry. What would you tell your children? How would you cope? Who would you call?

You can help. Your dedication wraps them in love and care. Your home cooked meals fills them with warmth and health. Your calmness fills them with peace.

Thank you for all you do.

Becky Taylor
Network Director
Congratulations to a
Family Promise graduate

Graduate Meredith Reader was recently awarded a $250 scholarship from the Nita Ball Scholarship Fund, a fund created as a memorial by her husband, Robert Ball, a faithful member of Concordia Lutheran Church. Nita Ball was a Christian woman of strong faith and a passion for helping people in need. The mission statement of the Fund is: The Nita Ball Fund is a non-profit Christian Fund; sharing Christ, loving others and helping them by extending a hand of hope.

Meredith was chosen for her faith, courage and strength in finding a home for herself and her children. Family Promise and Meredith are grateful to Robert Ball and the Nita Ball Scholarship Fund for this generous,well-deserved award.

Well done, Meredith! 
Giving Challenge raised more than $10,000!

Family Promise thanks everyone who donated to help our families in the 2016 Giving Challenge. We are please to report that we raised more than $10,000 from 138 donors, many who are new to our mission. These funds were generously matched by the Patterson Foundation, and we are grateful to them and to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County for their hard work and support for Family Promise and for all non-profit work in this area.

Our deepest thanks to Family Promise Volunteer Laurie Pike for making it possible for Family Promise to participate in the Team ACS Bachelor Auction on Oct. 13th. We were one of only 14 charitable organizations participating, and each bachelor was attached to an amazing array of luxury services. Altogether, the Family Promise "package" assembled by Laurie was valued at $1,400. 

Neil van Niekerk, representing Family Promise, was the perfect bachelor for us. He gave an excellent description of our program from the stage, which was tremendous exposure for our program. McCurdy's was packed with charities, bachelors, their teams and bidders! Neil was very popular with the bidders, and we earned a total of $1,000!

Ticket sales from this successful event benefit the American Cancer Society Making Strides against Breast Cancer. We made new friends many of whom look forward to learning more about of program.

- Caroline Chambliss, development director

Blues Festival tickets on sale! 
The Suncoast Blues Festival has named Family Promise as its charity recipient for 2017! The third annual festival will take place Jan. 27-28 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. Thanks to Roseanne and Greg Herndon of GPS Festival Productions for selecting us. 

If you buy your festival tickets through Family Promise, we get a percentage of the sales. The list of locations is at right. 

We're also still selling sponsorships for the event. If you know of a business owner who might be interested in sponsoring the event, please let the Family Promise office know. At a certain level, they can block out their competition from also sponsoring! 

More information about the festival is at www.suncoastbluesfestival.com.
Blues festival tickets will also be on sale at Music on Main.
Make plans to join us on Friday, Nov. 4, for Music on Main , a free outdoor concert series. The event, which goes from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., is held th e first Friday of every month on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch, and November's event will benefit Family Promise.

We're looking for volunteers to help sell beer, wine and blues festival tickets. If you're interested, please call our office at 952-1800 or email Board President Sally Reeder at sally@classicworldtravels.com. If you just want to DRINK the beer and wine or try out some food trucks, we'll look forward to seeing you there.
Do you shop on Amazon? You can earn money for Family Promise
Amazon has a program that donates a portion of a purchase to a non-profit through their s mile.amazon.com website. Family Promise of Sarasota is on their list of eligible non-profits. If you connect your account to a charity of your choice, The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible purchases.
We're recruiting organizations and volunteers.

Family Promise is looking for congregations of any faith and secular organizations of any type to share our mission of caring for homeless children and their parents. If you are part of such a congregation or organization and might like to give us a hand, please call our office (941.952.1800) or talk to one of our many volunteers. We'd love to talk with you.

We're also always looking for individuals who might be interested in getting involved.  Remember that the commitment doesn't have to be a large one. Just signing up to bring a meal occasionally would be great.  We have a form for people to fill out to get more information about the program. Please share it on social media or email it to people you think might enjoy hearing more. Thank you! 
STAY UP TO DATE
Are you following us on Facebook? 
We post regular updates about how our guests are doing, thank-you's to volunteers and community partners and requests for specific kinds of help. 

While email updates come just once or twice a month, Facebook updates can help you stay up to date more often. Plus, when you interact with our posts on Facebook, it shows those posts to more people, and our visibility in the community increases. Search for Family Promise of Sarasota, or click here if you're logged into Facebook

Family Promise of Sarasota Contact Information
Mailing: PO Box 48199, Sarasota FL 34230-8199
Telephone: 941-952-1800
Website: Family Promise of Sarasota
Facebook: Family Promise of Sarasota
   

Family Promise of Sarasota Inc.
is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) Florida Corporation. 
Our volunteer Board of Trustees consists of  Sally Reeder, president; George Lavigne, vice president and secretary;  Jeanne Zeigler, treasurer; and Sandee Davis, Tyler Hayden, Wendy Leventhal, Nancy Levine, Andrew Lowther, Shawna Machado, Joy Mayer, Betty Pelletz, Stanley Pelletz, Meredith Strahle, Terri West-Corali; and Danielle Bourque, Community Youth Development board member.  Our staff members are Becky Taylor, network director, and Caroline Chambliss, director of development.