Kari-Jo Koshes, the 40-year-old Director of Operations at DutchCrafters, is a Sarasota native with a deep passion for the local community and the arts. DutchCrafters is an Amish furniture company known for custom, heirloom-quality pieces, with showrooms in Sarasota and Alpharetta, Georgia, and nationwide sales. Although she is an avid traveler who dreams of visiting every country, Koshes always enjoys returning home to the city she calls ‘the best place in the world’.

Koshes was honored as a “storm hero” at SRQ Magazine’s annual Giving Coast and Good Hero Awards ceremony last year. Her nominator, Lee-En Chung, shared a story highlighting Koshes’s selflessness during Hurricane Milton.

“After exhausting hours/days of hurricane debris cleanup from Hurricane Helene, I decided to evacuate from SRQ to NYC prior to Hurricane Milton,” Chung explained. “Unfortunately, Milton’s tremendous hurricane winds destroyed structures, while toppling a 50-year-old ficus tree approximately four stories high in our front yard, which uprooted the concrete driveway and ripped apart the sewer line.”

Koshes rode her bike all the way to Siesta Key simply out of the goodness of her heart to update Chung on the damages at her childhood home, calling as soon as she arrived—an act Chung never asked for or expected.

Chung called Koshes a “storm trooper and hero,” adding, “Rebuilding our Siesta Key home may take a year or more; however, I will be forever grateful for Kari-Jo Koshes!” Chung also offered Koshes “hurricane hugs,” a phrase Chung herself coined because she said it made the post-storm cleanup a bit more comforting.

“As a native of Sarasota, the 2024 hurricane season was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I watched family and friends lose everything, and while I was one of the lucky ones, I knew how devastating that loss could be,” explained Koshes. “My dear friend, Lee-En Chung, was fortunate enough to evacuate the area before the storm, but, like many, was unable to return because of the destruction in the area. I knew the fear of not knowing what was happening to her childhood home was torturing her, and I decided I could not sit around and do nothing while she suffered and waited to get potentially more bad news after the past destruction from previous storms.”

Koshes learned from a young age the importance of giving back when you can. “In this case, I counted myself lucky that I could give in a way that was so meaningful to Lee-En. At first, I struggled to figure out how to help. The bridges were closed to cars, and there was no news coverage of the islands; however, my parents taught me to be a creative problem-solver. Ultimately, my boyfriend and I took our bikes on the island, navigating the mostly closed roads, but we were courageous and determined to help a friend in need. We made it, knowing success meant reassuring a friend in her time of need,” she says. “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer–This quote sums up my trip over the bridge on my bike, soon after the hurricane, as I worried about downed power lines and potentially dangerous debris. I thought, this is for Lee-En, and I only need to be brave a little while longer.”

Beyond her role at DutchCrafters, Koshes is actively involved in community philanthropy. She is the CEO and founder of Brand New Chapters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making books accessible to everyone by giving new life to old ones. Brand New Chapters rehomes donated books and establishes little libraries in affordable housing communities and for other nonprofits, ensuring residents and clients have access to reading materials. Additionally, Koshes holds board positions with several key community groups, including the Sarasota County Library Advisory Board, the Human Services Advisory Board, the Junior League of Sarasota and the Literacy Council of Sarasota.

“Always take time to be selfless,” Koshes advises. “It is easy to get busy with everything in our lives, but when we take a few minutes to be totally selfless, we create space for something meaningful to happen.

Koshes considers it an unbelievable honor to be recognized as a Good Hero.”I never thought that riding my bike across a bridge would matter more than making Lee-En feel assured. Realizing that it was so impactful feels good, and I hope my simple act inspires others to do the same, because we could benefit from more Good Heroes!”  SRQ  Kari-Jo Koshes was honored as a Good Hero by SRQ Magazine in December 2024.