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Coke Florida donates to Girls Inc., Urban Leagues, Boys & Girls Clubs

Coca-Cola Beverages Florida LLC is celebrating Black History Month 2021 by donating $100,000 in technology to dozens of nonprofit organizations and schools that provide services and resources to students across the state of Florida. The new equipment will help fill the technology gap that has widened as the learning environment has become virtual during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tampa-based independent bottler said. Among the local recipients are Girls Inc. in Pinellas Park, Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, and Pinellas County Urban League. 

Jesuit High gets $1 million gift

The CEO of an Ohio real estate firm is donating about $1.1 million to Jesuit High School in Tampa. Steve Wathen, CEO of Equity/ECS, earmarked proceeds from a corporate real estate transaction to Jesuit, a private, all-male Catholic high school. In a news release, Wathen cited Jesuit's commitment to students, including about $2.9 million in financial assistance this year to 40 percent of the student body. Equity/ECS, founded by Wathen in Columbus, Ohio in 1987, expanded to the Tampa Bay are more than 15 years ago, and has a significant presence in the region. 

USF College of Marine Science receives $3 million gift

The University of South Florida has announced a $3 million gift to the USF Foundation that will benefit students in the College of Marine Science. The estate gift from Anne Von Rosenstiel, who passed away in December 2019, will be divided between two existing endowments established by Von Rosenstiel and her late husband, Werner. The Anne and Werner Von Rosenstiel Fellowship in Marine Science facilitates the research of graduate students who are working on projects exploring biological, chemical, geological or physical aspects of ocean/atmospheric systems. Meanwhile, the Von Rosenstiel Innovation Fund for Marine Science enables graduate students to explore ideas that have the potential to advance the field of marine science. The two endowments have benefited more than 80 graduate students since first being formed in 1993.

Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions joins Catalyst Impact Council

ISPS is dedicated to advancing academic excellence, community engagement, civics literacy and public understanding through strategic partnerships and solutions-directed programs. That makes them an invaluable addition to the Catalyst Impact Council. 

Weigh in by Friday: St. Pete 2.0: Establishing priorities for St. Petersburg’s Comprehensive Arts Strategy

Art is an important part of the cultural identity and economy in St. Pete. In October, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership and City of St. Pete launched a new planning effort to create a Comprehensive Arts Strategy for the community, and your feedback is needed. To complete a survey that will help refine and prioritize some of the themes that have emerged in creating the new strategy, click here. The surveys will close at noon Friday (Jan. 22) so be sure to weigh in now.

Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and Stetson University College of Law welcome new Community Fellows

The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and Stetson University College of Law have welcomed three new Community Fellows as part of the Alliance for Advocacy and Philanthropy partnership. As part of this collaboration, the Foundation offers paid fellowships each semester for students attending Stetson. The fellows will have the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of community philanthropy and have hands-on experience in working with nonprofit organizations. The recipients are Bailey Peterson and Shannon Walker, who will receive their degrees in 2021 and Blake Radford, who will receive his degree in 2023.

Pepsi Stronger Together program will give back to the community during Super Bowl LV

Pepsi has announced new giveback initiatives it is rolling out in Tampa and across the state for Super Bowl LV as part of its Pepsi Stronger Together platform, a tailored grassroots-based program giving back to communities across the nation. In Tampa, the program is partnering with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation to donate $100,000 in grants and support to help struggling Bay area restaurants. Through the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Pepsi and the NRAEF will award $10,000 grants to Tampa restaurants which will be announced Super Bowl Sunday. Qualifying restaurants will also be offered membership in the FRLA and National Restaurant Association. Additionally, Pepsi Stronger Together will also work with nonprofit Force Blue by hosting Dive55, a beach and ocean cleanup day on Anna Maria Island Jan. 25.

Movie studio executive joins cancer center’s board of directors

Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa has named Ted Schilowitz, a futurist at Paramount Pictures, to its 36-member national board of directors. Schilowitz, a news release states, has dedicated his career to exploring new and emerging technologies in areas such as virtual reality and advanced interactive storytelling. His resume includes stints with 20th Century Fox, also as a futurist, and Red Digital Cinema, where he helped develop the ultra-high-resolution Red One and Epic cameras that are now being used to shoot major motion pictures. 

Super Bowl initiative provides local children with books, school supplies and sporting equipment

A group of community partners teamed up with the NFL, the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a Super Bowl project that put nearly 4,500 books, pieces of sports equipment, school supplies and games in the hands of local children. The project, called Super Kids-Super Sharing, has been implemented in every Super Bowl host community for the past 22 years. More than 30 Super Kids partner locations hosted collections at their facilities in December. Donated items were then shared with the children they serve and with Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay. Participating in this effort were the YMCAs of Tampa Bay, Replay Tampa Bay, Hillsborough Education Foundation, Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation, City of Tampa Parks and Recreation, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful and six Diocese of St. Petersburg schools.

St. Pete moves forward with launch of program to send social workers on nonviolent police calls

The St. Petersburg city council unanimously approved a nine-month $850,000 contract with Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services to hire a program director and staff for the St. Petersburg Police Department's new Community Assistance Liaison program. The program, which was announced last year following the death of George Floyd, will send community and social service professionals instead of uniformed police officers on some non-violent calls. Initially, plans call for social workers to respond to calls alongside officers, though the goal is for social workers to go out on 80 percent of calls alone by the program's sixth month. The pilot phase of CAL will run through September when council members will evaluate it and determine what the next steps will be.

Eckerd College’s writers conference will be virtual this year

Although all the workshops have been canceled, Eckerd College's annual Writers in Paradise conference will go on, virtually, with two days of evening readings. Authors (view the list here) will read Jan. 17 and 18 via YouTube. Writers in Paradise was founded in 2003 by Sterling Watson and Dennis Lehane. All information about the 2020 event changes can be found here.  

Local businesswoman joins board of prominent foundation

Bridgette Heller, a longtime business executive who now leads a St. Petersburg nonprofit, has been named to the Newman’s Own Foundation board of directors. Founded by the late actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, the foundation has donated more than $560 million to charitable causes over the years. Heller, following a long career with major companies such as Kraft Foods, Nutricia and Johnson & Johnson, founded and serves as CEO of the Shirley Proctor Puller Foundation, which, according to a news release, works to close the achievement gap for underserved students in south St. Petersburg. 

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