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The Giving Challenge Takes Over Sarasota
Myra Moore of Blaze of Hope at the Pop-up Giving Station at Latin Quarters. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.
There is something to be said about living in a community that cares. Over the last 24 hours, from 12pm April 15 to 12pm April 16, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County has hosted the 2026 Giving Challenge. The initiative, first launched in 2012, benefits around 750 nonprofits from Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Desoto Counties, giving community members the chance to help support a vast array of local organizations. Strengthening the Giving Challenge is The Patterson Foundation, which is providing a dollar-for-dollar match on all unique donations from $25 to $100, with no limit to the amount of donations that can be matched.
Pop-up Giving Stations, such as the one outside of Latin Quarters restaurant on Main Street Sarasota, appeared throughout the region, offering potential donors the opportunity to personally connect with members of the various organizations. “This opportunity is huge for us, especially since Blaze of Hope is a small nonprofit,” says Theresa Pannacciulli, executive director of Blaze of Hope. “Our opportunity for fundraising comes by word of mouth. We’re trying to raise $10,000 today, which will go a long way towards helping us with our mission. To be here with five other amazing organizations is a blessing for all of us.”
“The matching of the donations from The Patterson Foundation is what is unique about the impact of the Giving Challenge,” says Paul Stern, board member of Parenting Matters. “All of us have to raise money in a variety of ways and to have a one day event doubled is massive. I have not heard of anything like this in any other city that I have lived in.”
For Isven Chavez, director of student services at Sarasota Teen Court, the donations from the Giving Challenge could help pay for services such as counseling or drug tests. “Teen Court is a diversion program focused on justice for youth, by youth, and we give second chances for the youth in Sarasota County that make poor decisions,” says Chavez. “We want to make sure that they aren’t defined by their poor decisions and that we’re able to provide services to keep them on the right path.”
The Giving Challenge, April 15-16, The Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
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