Nonprofit Efforts Rally for Summer Learning and Student Success with Support from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County

Closing the achievement gap and extending learning gains have never been more crucial for students following a year of tremendous changes. This summer, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County is once again supporting nonprofit efforts to engage students and their families to help fill gaps in achievement and need, and ensure hard-earned gains are sustained during a shortened yet crucial seasonal break.

Through the Allen Wirtz Nobbe and Jo Bowen Nobbe Fund, Advanced Leadership Initiative Fund, and six other funds, support of more than $240,000 has been committed to strengthen long-term, collaborative efforts for student success, fulfillment, and futures beyond the classroom. Funding will be disbursed among eight collaborative programs being offered to students, families, and teachers this summer, complementing the school district’s programmatic work and the Community Foundation's two generation (2Gen) aproach.

“These efforts share our longstanding commitment to ensure our youngest learners and their families remain engaged and connected to essential wrap-around support during the summer months and beyond,” says Roxie Jerde, President and CEO of the Community Foundation. “Program by program, child by child, these partners are reinventing how to realize student success beyond the pages of a textbook or walls of a classroom. I think we can agree that should be part of everyone’s summer syllabus.”

Summer Reading & Exploration:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast | Summer reading and mentoring program with Reading Bigs
• Sarasota County Schools | Reading engagements and explorations for summer enrollment
• SOAR Learning Center | Summer reading program with parent facilitator

Youth Development & Academic Enrichment:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties | Great Futures Academy
• Girls Inc. of Sarasota County | Support a Girl Summer Program
• J5 Experience | Academic Boot Camp

Teacher & Parent Support:

• The Florida Center for Early Childhood | Professional development around mental health for teachers
• Women’s Resource Center | Two generation (2Gen) parent support program

For nearly a decade, thanks to the trust of donors across our region, the Community Foundation has invested in programs that prepare new students to enter the classroom and mitigate learning loss for returning ones, which includes the foundation's work with Summer Learning Academies and Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

To learn more about the Community Foundation’s commitment to student success all year long, visit www.cfsarasota.org/community-impact/empowerment-and-success.

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About the Community Foundation of Sarasota County: The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. With assets of $421 million in more than 1,500 charitable funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling $48.9 million dollars last year in the areas of education, the arts, health and human services, civic engagement, animal welfare and the environment. Since its founding, the Community Foundation has been able to grant more than $323 million to area nonprofit organizations to our community thanks to the generosity of charitable individuals, families, and businesses. For more information, visit www.CFSarasota.org or call (941) 955-3000.

Photo courtesy of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties.