The topic of welcoming is one that deserves our attention.

As we strive to enhance the work of charitable causes, embrace new members of our communities, and make the most of what people have to offer, the art of making people feel included and at home is a practice we can embrace more fully.  

It starts with noticing. Who is new? Who may need affirmation to feel more comfortable? What questions do we need to ask ourselves to better understand?

During the Selby Foundation's scholarship interviews in April, a student answered a question about a unique trait she brings to leadership by saying, "I want to be the person who can welcome other people."

It sounds simple, but it is a powerful statement about the significance of inclusion from the perspective of a young leader. 

We often hear that the Selby Foundation itself is a place where Selby Scholars feel embraced on all levels: in the process of applying for a scholarship, sharing their challenges and successes with us during college, and moving into professional roles after graduation. Our team members, including the dedicated volunteers on our Scholarship Selection Committee, strive to create this culture. We want students to know and feel that we honor them and their experiences. 

Building our committees is an intentional process. We select people who embrace the Selby value of humility. We also choose members who allow our young applicants to see themselves represented in those who will make the hard decisions.

The nonprofit organizations the Selby Foundation invests in with capital grants do the work of welcoming every day. Through their programs and services, they acknowledge the people who show up at their doors with humanity and with eagerness to meet them where they are.

Strong nonprofits know that first-time donors may not come back to give again without the process of sending simple thank you notes, confirmations of how their dollars made an impact, and invitations to learn more. They are essential welcoming tools to build the case for a second gift—to make the donor a member of the nonprofit’s essential community. 

Organizations that successfully advocate for their charitable causes make a practice of bringing people with lived experiences to the meetings. Who would be better to welcome representatives than someone with personal knowledge of being a parent to a child with developmental differences, a teen attending a local youth center, or a senior impacted by flooding in their neighborhood? The representative’s job is to welcome their constituents as golden opportunities to understand—and then act. 

Visit Sarasota County assembles physical welcome bags to share the arts, culture, natural spaces, and local hot spots with meeting and wedding visitors to our community. They both greet people with surprise and delight as they visit Sarasota and invite them to explore everything we have available. Visitors often return for another trip and sometimes relocate to the area. They support new philanthropy, new patronage of local businesses, and new talent that rejuvenates our creative economy.  

I have been personally fortunate in recent months to be welcomed in situations that are new to me. Without such thoughtful people attuned to my situation, I may have found the circumstances much more difficult. People offered to give help, shared their experiences, and provided comforting words.

What do you carry in your welcome kit? It might be as simple as a chair you offer, inviting someone to take a seat while you ask good questions and listen.

The world is vastly more interesting and resilient when we extend our warmest invitations.

Pictured: Seven members of the 2026 Selby Scholarship Selection Committee. From left: Amandine Louis-Charles, Don Bowman, John Annis, Rita Mazer, Clolita Vitale, Kareen Mourra, Carolyn Gorton.

Something I know about this community is that when we are called upon to support our nonprofits, we don’t just show up, we Show Up. The generosity, selflessness and passion our community has for helping—all of those qualities were on full display during last month’s Giving Challenge.

It was the Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s 10th challenge, with major support from our friends at The Patterson Foundation, which once again matched every unique individual donation between $25 and $100, and the results were impressive.

More than 50,800 donors made more than 87,000 gifts during the 24 hours of the challenge held April 15-16, generating more than $16.7 million for a record 751 participating nonprofits. That’s 50,800 people who made the decision to make a difference for our region’s nonprofits and the people they serve.

The gifts came in all sizes, from $25 to major investments. One Sarasota couple joined what we call the “100 Percent Club” this year by donating $100 to every single organization that took part in the challenge. Their anonymous $75,100 gift was fully matched by The Patterson Foundation, bringing the couple’s total impact to $150,200. That kind of broad generosity shows deep faith in the work of local cause leaders and inspires others to step up and give in whatever ways they can.

Just like the gifts, the organizations that benefited from this year’s challenge came in all sizes, and the missions they advance vary widely. When I look at the list of the 10 organizations that raised the most funds this year, I’m struck by the variety of causes our community supported, from science and education (Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium), hunger relief (All Faiths Food Bank) and animal welfare (Satchel’s Last Resort, Suncoast Humane Society, Cat Depot and Dogs Inc.) to arts and culture (Venice Theatre), humanitarian aid (Galatians 6:2, Agape Flights) and programming for youth and seniors (The Center of Anna Maria Island). Your generosity fuels those organizations’ missions and makes our community stronger in so many ways.

Money raised through the Giving Challenge is unrestricted, meaning that nonprofits can apply those funds to whatever their most pressing needs might be. Because of that, the impact of your generosity will be felt in myriad ways for months and years to come, as these organizations responsibly steward your donations to maximize their work. The Giving Challenge may only last 24 hours, but what happens in that window can last a lifetime.

To every person who gave, to every nonprofit that joined in, to every volunteer, every board member, every supporter, I thank you. You are what makes this community so special.

Jessica Muroff is the president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

Pictured: Jessica Muroff (left), Debra Jacobs. Provided photo.

There’s a perception that Sarasota’s cultural scene takes a breather when the calendar turns to summer. The snowbirds head north, the season wraps up, the curtain comes down. Time to rest.

Here’s what actually happens when summer arrives: our arts community doesn’t slow down. It shifts. And in many ways, the work that happens over the summer is some of the most important work we do all year.

In my March column, I wrote about why arts education matters, how school-based programs are the great equalizer, giving every student access to creative development regardless of their family’s resources. When the school year ends, a gap opens. And what fills that gap matters.

This is where our community really shows up.

Right now, arts organizations across Sarasota are preparing an extraordinary lineup of summer youth programs. And the breadth of what’s available is something I think we should all be proud of.

Your child can learn trapeze and aerial silks at the Circus Arts Conservatory. They can train alongside Resident Teaching Artists at Florida Studio Theatre. The Sarasota Ballet School offers everything from camps for three-year-olds to junior intensives for serious young dancers. Sarasota Opera is opening its doors for a youth camp where kids experience every facet of the art form, from performing onstage to building sets and designing costumes. The Sarasota Art Museum and Art Center Sarasota are running weeks of visual arts exploration. The Venice Symphony is hosting a summer music academy with scholarships available. And that’s not even the full list.

Theatre, dance, music, visual arts, circus arts, marine science at Mote and nature-inspired art at Selby Gardens. The options span every discipline and every age group, from preschoolers to high schoolers, from first-timers to advanced students.

What strikes me about all of this isn’t just the variety. It’s the intentionality. These aren’t drop-off programs designed to fill time. These are experiences led by professional artists, educators, and organizations that understand what creative development actually looks like. They’re building the same skills we talk about during the school year, creativity, collaboration, confidence and communication, where kids have the freedom to explore.

And many of these programs offer scholarships and financial assistance, because access still matters in the summer.

I’d encourage families to explore what’s available. We’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to youth arts opportunities at sarasotaarts.org/youth-arts-opportunities-summer-2026.

But before we get to summer, we have something important on the calendar. On May 11, we’re hosting our Annual Arts Summit at the Mertz Theatre thanks to the Asolo Repertory. It’s an afternoon designed for anyone committed to the future of arts and culture in Sarasota, with presentations on how the arts enhance quality of life, how creativity drives connection across our community, and an update on Artscape, our initiative to create affordable housing for the creative workforce. We’ll also have performances from Artist Series Concerts, Asolo Rep, Key Chorale Quartet, and more. Doors open at 12:30, program runs from 1 to 4, followed by a reception. I hope you’ll join us. Tickets and details are at sarasotaarts.org/annual-arts-summit.

Because that’s really the point of all of this. Whether it’s a child discovering they love the stage at a summer theatre camp, or a community leader member showing up at the Summit to advocate for our cultural future, it all connects. So, to that I say, what off-season?

Visit sarasotaarts.org to learn more about arts and culture in Sarasota County.

Brian Hersh is the CEO of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County. 

Photo courtesy of Art Center Sarasota.