The St Pete Catalyst RSS feed, which allows websites to display, and automatically update, Catalyst content, now supports images. Feeds are divided into specific genres as well as content types. Visit https://stpetecatalyst.com/rss-feeds/ to access the Catalyst RSS feeds. Email Spark@stpetecatalyst.com for support in adding a feed to your website.
The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay has received a $500,000 commitment from The Humana Foundation to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Tampa Bay region. The gift bolsters the Community Foundation’s ability to mobilize its funding resources and collaborate with local nonprofits for the community’s benefit, a news release said. The Humana Foundation’s gift will be distributed to local nonprofits through the Community Foundation’s Tampa Bay Rapid Response Fund, which provides grants to local nonprofits to address immediate and mid- to long-term needs. The new commitment adds to Humana’s earlier $100,000 donation to the Community Foundation in the earliest days of the pandemic. The Rapid Response Fund is one avenue that the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay is using to connect resources to local nonprofits who are serving the Tampa Bay community. The Community Foundation also created the Nonprofit Needs List, a centralized list of local nonprofits’ greatest needs during the pandemic
Christina Noordstart & Lauren Brigman brought 100 Women Who Care to St Petersburg late last year. The concept, with national and international chapters, is to collect $100 from up to 100 women who attend quarterly events to hear 3 nonprofits pitch. The group votes on a winner to receive the full amount. The latest event, moved to Facebook by the pandemic, featured CASA, The St Pete Free Clinic and The Kind Mouse. CASA took home the top prize of $9630. The two founders shared their story on a recent Impact Catalyst. Click here to watch the episode.
Representatives from predictive market intelligence firm Impacts Research and Development held an online webinar Wednesday in partnership with the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance. More than 190 people registered for the free dissemination of data on the subject of COVID-19’s impact on cultural entities, subtitled “What Will Make Visitors Feel Comfortable Visiting Again?” Chief Market Engagement Manager Colleen Dilenschneider and Chief Strategy Officer Jim Hekkers have been surveying Americans for 11 weeks, and declared “Intentions to visit cultural organizations within three months have recovered when compared to this same time last year, and intentions to visit within one month are close to observed historic levels.” Although safe re-opening dates are likely a long way off, data also suggests members and subscribers will be particularly important target audiences upon reopening. Read the research here.
Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay has received grants totaling $17,000 to fund JA work readiness and financial literacy programming. The grants, from State Farm Insurance, are part of a larger statewide initiative totaling $60,000 that will support Junior Achievement programs in 11 communities throughout Florida, enabling over 5,000 young people to participate in JA’s nationally-recognized economic education programs, a news release said. Locally, the $6,000 allocation of State Farm funds to Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay/Hillsborough County partially funds 847 low-to-moderate income students to attend JA BizTown or JA Finance Park. Both programs help students identify and practice the skills they need to find and keep a job and to manage personal finance. JA of Tampa Bay/Sarasota received $5,000 in State Farm funds and JA of Tampa Bay/Polk/Highlands received $6,000 to support Junior Achievement financial literacy classes for over 400 low and moderate income students. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States.
Hancock Whitney, one of the larger banks operating in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, pledged an $80,000 investment to local food pantries in Tampa Bay as part of the bank’s Covid-19 community relief efforts. Metropolitan Ministries and St. Petersburg Free Clinic each will get $40,000, a news release said. For Metro Ministries, the funding will provide an estimated 3,000 meals per day for two weeks; at $1 per meal, the donation will impact nearly 42,000 individuals, a news release said. The funding for St. Pete Free Clinic will help the organization meet the increasing demands by purchasing food in bulk. It also will ensure that staff serving on the frontlines of food programs, interacting with hundreds of people per day, stay safe, healthy and compensated with "appreciation pay," the news release said.
Grow Financial Federal Credit Union has launched an initiative designed to support small businesses and local restaurants in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Under the new Grow On Us program, the credit union will pick up the tab for area residents at about 30 small businesses, starting next week and continuing through the end of August. Grow Financial expects to spend about $200,000 on the program, which is designed to counter the negative impact of Covid-19 on the economy. Participating businesses include The Blind Tiger, Bella Prana Yoga, Urban Brew & BBQ, Seventh Avenue Apothecary, Mekenita Cantina, Tidal Brewing, and Deviled Pig, among others. Membership with Grow Financial is not required to take advantage of an open tab, the credit union said. More information is here.
Think Big for Kids, a nonprofit founded by Tampa tech executive and entrepreneur Tony DiBenedetto, has partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast on a workforce development program. The partnership is designed to expand career development planning and will include career showcases, skill-building workshops, mentoring program, internships, scholarships and more. The programs will be offered at all Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast locations serving teens in Pinellas County. Think Big for Kids, launched four years ago, initially partnered with Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, which serves Hillsborough County
Nonprofits and community organizations serving low to moderate income residents can apply for funds through Pinellas County’s portion of the federal CARES Act. The funds are designed to support public health and testing, feeding operations, emergency sheltering, housing and other services. The organizations must show a direct link between the Covid-19 crisis and their increase in services, as well as demonstrate their ability to meet specific public health objectives defined in the CARES Act. Funds are coming from the Community Development Block Grant Program-Coronavirus Response (CDBG-CV) and the Emergency Solution Grant-Coronavirus Response (ESG-CV) funds. Applications are due by 5 p.m., May 22. More information is here.
Hype Group is partnering with local breweries to raise money for the Fighting Chance Fund and help local businesses impacted by Covid-19. The St. Petersburg creative agency has created a customizable, St. Pete-centric beer label for the breweries and is offering the label free of charge to any brewery interested in collaborating with the agency on the fund-raising initiative. Hype Group will customize the label with specs to fit a beer bottle or can and will include the respective brewery’s logo. The brewery will then print the label, apply it to any beer of their choosing and a percentage of that beer’s sales will be donated to the Fighting Chance Fund. Each brewery can determine the percentage of sales its wants to contribute. Six breweries have confirmed participation: Avid Brew Company, St. Pete Brewing Company, Bayboro Brewing Co., If I Brewed the World, Dissent Craft Brewing Company and Grand Central Brewhouse.
The Bailey Family Foundation gave $350,000 to Tampa General Hospital to assist with needs surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Tampa General plans to use the funds for Covid-19 testing supplies, personal protective equipment, new technology and other needs. “Tampa is our home. It’s where we’ve chosen to raise families and start businesses. This gift is about trying to do our part to help protect the community we love,” says Kyle Bailey, president of the Bailey Family Foundation and founder of Replay Guitar Exchange. The mission of the Tampa-based Bailey Family Foundation is to enhance the availability of post-secondary education and to make grants to support our local community.
St. Petersburg brewer, 3 Daughters Brewing, was featured Tuesday on national talk show LIVE with Kelly & Ryan, where they were presented with a $5,000 check for their generosity toward the St. Petersburg community shown in last month's hand sanitizer giveaway. Instead of keeping the money, owners Robin and Mike Harting decided to match the $5,000 with their own dollars to purchase $10,000 of gift cards to local businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores and bars in increments of $50 and $100. 3 Daughters will give away those gift cards starting today via social media to local community members.
