Island Country Club Charitable Foundation

   2021 Mid-year Report

 The unprecedented generosity of Island Country Club members in 2020/2021 enhanced the ability of the Island Country Club Charitable Foundation to continue to live up to its motto: “Because Community Matters”.  Over $300,000 was raised in 2020 with the focus on human services as the pandemic devastated the economy and drove food insecurity to levels never seen before.  Approximately one-third went to food programs, one-third went to childrens’ holiday presents and one-third went to approved grant requestors.

The first six months of 2021 have been very active and successful in income development and distributions to Charitable and nonprofit organizations.  Historically one of our largest fundraisers in any year is the Charity Classic Golf Tournament, generally held in January. This year the total income from that event was $122,000. Other income and income carried forward supported the total donations of $162,200.  Below is a list of the beneficiaries from the 2021 Grant Request cycle.

Donated To:  

• • American Cancer Society
  • Habitat For Humanity
  • Harry Chapin Food Bank      
  • Marco Island Academy
  • Marco Island Center For The Arts                                                                                   
  • Marco Island Charter Middle School
  • Marco Island Fire Rescue Foundation                                                
  • Marco Island Historical Society                                                        
  • Marco Island Police Foundation
  • Meals of Hope
  • Naples Senior Center
  • Neighborhood Health Clinic
  • Our Daily Bread Food Pantry                                                       
  • Shelter for Abused Women and Children 
  • YMCA                                                

A great deal of hard work goes into determining what organizations should benefit and at what amount.  It is a process that will be described in the next report, early October. 

Below is additional information on two charitable organizations that benefit from your donations to the Island Country Club Charitable Foundation.

 Marco Island Academy, its Leadership Team and Board of Directors have expressed thanks for the $15,000 grant awarded to the students this past February.  The funds were used to cover athletic fees and costs associated with “the Free Lunch Program” to benefit MIA’s low-income families.

The mission of Marco Island Academy is to provide a student-centered, well-rounded interdisciplinary education.  Students engage in critical thinking while focusing on math, science, technology, and environmental and global studies. The Academy upholds the highest standard of academic excellence, integrity, respect and social responsibility, while guiding students to post a-secondary success. With the Island Club Charitable Foundation’s gift, underprivileged students have an opportunity to flourish in their academic careers, athletic endeavors and extracurricular pursuits. Thank you for truly making a difference to its Academy students’ lives.

  Habitat for Humanity has been a beneficiary of funding from ICCCF for many years. During that time several Island Club employees have been fortunate to become Habitat homeowners with our donation of “time & talent” making their dream become a reality. What do we know about Habitat as a charitable organization:

• Habitat Collier is a 16-time four-star Charity Navigator rated organization and in 2020 earned the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency.
• Ninety-Five Cents of every dollar is spent on building homes and serving families.
• Each prospective partner family undergoes a comprehensive application process verifying legal status, employment history, income verification and both criminal and credit background checks.
• Families purchase their homes with an affordable mortgage.
• The average homeowner mortgage repayment delinquency rate was just 4.5% in FY2020 and a foreclosure rate of less than 1%.
• 100% of Habitat homeowners are US Citizens or legal residents who have lived in Collier County for at least one year.

Most of the families that purchase their home of approximately 1200 square feet have incomes that are 40 to 60 percent of local area income.  Without the support from generous donners they would never be able to live the American dream of homeownership.

CHRISTMAS FIRST RESPONDER STYLE

The Island Country Club Charitable Foundation, in partnership with Marco Island Police and Fire Rescue Departments, introduced the first annual Christmas First Responder Style event. It was held at the Island Country Club December 5^th. A total of 134 school children from Tommy Barfield, Marc Island Charter Middle School and Marco Island Academy received Christmas presents and had their pictures taken on various police and fire rescue equipment.

Gary Landis, Chairman of the Charitable Foundation said “we were looking to do something in addition to Joy of Giving, something that focused more specifically on Marco Island kids. What better partners than the Police and Fire departments to whom we all owe so much”.

“This event would not have been possible without the generosity, kindness and passion of the members of Charitable Foundation who are committed to giving back to our community”, said Fire Rescue Chief Chris Byrne.  “I must recognize Gary Landis who steered the ship, Island Country Club Manager Bid Bakkar who accommodated every need of the event, and Jennifer Orr who kept our planning sessions on track, also Firefighter Chris Bowden and Sergeant Mark Haueter who coordinated with the business community and located the families and children in need”.

Police Chief Tracy Frazzano stated that this was one of the most rewarding events that she had participated in since coming to Marco Island. “We look forward to many more years of our association with the Island Country Club Charitable Foundation”.

The generosity of the Island Country Club membership is overwhelming. We closed the Charitable Foundation’s May 2020 $20,000 matching fundraising drive for “Our Daily Bread”, the local food pantry. Island Country Club members hit it out of the park.

The ICC Charitable Foundation board raised $20,000 and our club members not only matched but exceeded that amount by raising an additional $76,000, for a grand total of $96,000 to buy food for the needy and unemployed.

Here is what $96,000 means to Our Daily Bread. When we started our fund raiser they were providing food to 300 families weekly. That’s up from a pre-COVID-19 norm of 100 families per week. The new norm is 650 families or roughly 2600 people. Their food costs have tripled. Our funds will cover the increased food costs for the next 4 to 5 months. Hopefully by that time many of these people will be back to work.

Because Community Matters…….Thank You!

Organizations we support: