The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art has announced that the application period for the second annual Eleanor Merritt Fellowship is now open. The Merritt Fellowship honors Eleanor Merritt (1933-2019), a prolific and celebrated artist and educator who served as The Ringling’s first African American docent and board member.

Satchel’s Last Resort recently received a $12,500 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County through its annual Animal Welfare grant cycle, which will allow Satchel’s to be able to continue providing emergency veterinary care to rehab animals from Sarasota County. 

During a recent event in support of Safe Children Coalition’s ongoing Youth Shelter capital campaign, philanthropists Bob and Joan Geyer announced a $500,000 Gift Match Challenge in partnership with Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The Youth Shelter campaign has currently raised more than 60 percent of what the SCC expects the facility to cost.

The Florida Center for Early Childhood Education announced the receipt of a $2,000 grant from the Wawa Foundation. This funding will bolster an initiative dedicated to revitalizing and modernizing sensory and activity equipment for indoor play at Starfish Academy campuses located in Sarasota and North Port.

Neal Communities has donated $5,000 to Take Stock in Children Sarasota County. The donation will be matched by Bright Futures to create a $10,000 scholarship for a student in the Take Stock in Children program in Sarasota County.

The Church of the Redeemer’s inaugural wine auction raised $88,000, with more than 600 bids placed and 90 percent of the donated wine sold. The wine auction, held online from Feb. 26 through Feb. 29, featured a selection of more than 300 top-rated wines donated from parishioner Hugh Culverhouse Jr.'s personal collection.