The board of directors of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation recently awarded $11.8 million in grants aimed at further improving the quality of education in Sarasota County’s public schools and preschools, expanding access to health care and the arts for underserved communities, supporting environmental education at important conservation sites on Sarasota Bay, and more. Recipients include YMCA of Southwest Florida, the Barancik Foundation's own Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Recognition initiative, its Early Learning Initiative and its Healthy Equity Initiative, FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, Embracing Our Differences, Sarasota Art Museum, Jewish Family & Children’s Service of the Suncoast, Community News Collaborative, Longboat Key Foundation, Florida Institute of Saltwater Heritage, Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay and Suncoast Blood Centers.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens recently announced that it is the recipient of the inaugural Virginia B. Toulmin Leadership Scholarship, awarded in honor of and in partnership with Selby Gardens President and CEO Jennifer O. Rominiecki, who will serve as the scholarship’s first mentor. The scholarship will be managed by Selby Gardens with an initial gift of $25,000. The application, developed by Selby Gardens, includes an opportunity for applicants to share their connection with the mission of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

The Florida Center for Early Childhood Education has received receipt of a $30,000 grant from the Bank of America Client Foundation. This grant will support an initiative aimed at providing vital language, occupational, and infant and early childhood mental health therapies to uninsured and under-insured families in southwest Florida.

The Wells Fargo Foundation recently granted $10,000 to All Faiths Food Bank to help provide nutritious foods to individuals in Sarasota and DeSoto counties. This is the 14th year the Wells Fargo Foundation has provided funds to strengthen the food bank’s hunger relief efforts, with all grants totaling more than $140,000. 

Senior residents at Bay Village recently raised $9,456 to provide Wilkinson Elementary students with a  warm, long-sleeved shirt for winter. The annual Warm Clothing drive one of many programs carried out as part of the Bay Village/Wilkinson Partnership, established in 2019. Other ongoing projects include monthly pen pal letters, an annual picnic, student chorus performances, collaborative science projects and a school supplies fundraiser.