Sarasota Youth Opera and Child Protection Center are proud to be partners for the 2022 Giving Challenge which is hosted by Community Foundation of Sarasota County. For the launch of this Giving Challenge, Sarasota Opera will host a Brown Bag Lunch & Learn in the Opera House Courtyard and lobby on April 26th at 12 noon. Everyone is welcome to attend and help #BeTheOne to give our children a voice.

At this event Sarasota Youth Opera’s Director of Education, Martha Collins, will share information about the opera’s arts education programs, year-round choral and performance training, and the activities planned for the upcoming summer camp. Child Protection Center’s Marketing Coordinator, Shelby Marsh will provide insight into the organization’s vital mission and programs centering on the protection, intervention, and treatment of child abuse. Sarasota Youth Opera has given thousands of young people ages 8 to 18 a unique and uplifting opportunity to experience opera firsthand through fully-staged Youth Opera productions, Sarasota Opera’s mainstage productions, summer camps, after-school choruses, and concert performances throughout the community. Youth Opera has helped young people gain confidence and a stronger sense of self, create life-long connections, and build leadership skills for now and on into their future life endeavors.

Child Protection Center has served children and families in its important work for 40 years. The mission of the prevention, intervention and treatment of child abuse is achieved through different programming. The prevention team offers training workshops for children, parents, and professionals on how to identify and report abuse. CPC also offers intervention services, performing forensic interviews and medical exams for children as evidential support. The Supervised Visitation Program helps foster healthy relationships with caregivers in an attempt to maintain the overall well-being for a child. Free therapy services are provided for children and families who have been victims of child abuse, in an effort to create a stronger, more resilient child.