Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Board of Directors approved nearly $11 million in grants and scholarships at its October meeting. The funding, which was approved at the Board’s first meeting of the fiscal year, included almost $7 million in grants from donor-advised funds, as well as $612,671 in scholarship awards.“In response to the growing needs of our community fueled by the pandemic, last year we experienced an increase in donor giving by about 30 percent from years prior," said Mark Pritchett, Gulf Coast President | CEO. "We anticipate similar increased support as we enter this new fiscal year.”

Among grants approved by the Gulf Coast Board in October were three Leveraged Grants totaling $512,500. Gulf Coast’s Leveraged Grants fund collaborative work that will address specific regional priorities identified by the foundation through periodic community assessments. These grants included: $62,500 to help Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast launch a Nature Interpretation Program and $150,000 to the State College of Florida (SCF) Foundation to address the critical shortage of nurses in our region by supporting the SCF Nursing Center of Excellence. Gulf Coast also awarded over $124,000 in Community Grants, which are smaller grants to fund programs and projects at regional nonprofit organizations. These included:  $25,000 to Venice Theatre to support AACT WorldFest 2022, an international community theater festival that will feature performances from around the globe and $14,000 to Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center to determine the feasibility of developing a nonprofit human-services center in North Port.