Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund

SEPTEMBER 2022 – PRESENT

Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund

The Purpose

Hurricane Ian’s historic landfall caused catastrophic destruction throughout southwest Florida. Many will face a challenging, long-term recovery effort to rebuild their lives after emergency disaster-response efforts have concluded. For decades, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County has excelled at helping people and families in our region recover from unforeseen crises through nonprofit partnerships and efforts such as Season of Sharing.

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund is guided by that experience. The Fund gives generous donors the opportunity to support long-term, long-range programs to sustain human service agencies serving people in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties as they recover from Hurricane Ian’s impact.

Strengthening the Impact

To help Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties recover from Hurricane Ian with resilience, The Patterson Foundation strengthened the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County through:

An immediate $500,000 gift to catalyze donor support
A dollar-for-dollar match for all donations up to $750,000 — effectively doubling donations

FAQs

Click on frequently asked questions below to learn more about this initiative...

Why does The Patterson Foundation support this initiative?

From a catastrophic storm such as Hurricane Ian to an unpaid bill for a family working to make ends meet, people routinely face unforeseen challenges that affect their well-being. Understanding that disaster takes many forms, The Patterson Foundation works to create outcomes that strengthen people, organizations, and communities recovering from challenging circumstances. The Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund will allow investments in long-term, long-range programs to sustain human service agencies serving Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties after emergency relief is provided.

How is The Patterson Foundation supporting the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund?

The Patterson Foundation strengthened the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County through:

An immediate $500,000 gift to catalyze donor support
A dollar-for-dollar match for all donations up to $750,000 — effectively doubling donations

The Patterson Foundation’s support generated a total of $2 million to strengthen resilient recovery efforts in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. Combined with donations beyond The Patterson Foundation’s contributions and additional matches from generous donors, our community gave nearly $5 million total to the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund in the two months following Ian’s landfall.

Beyond these contributions, The Patterson Foundation is providing consulting expertise to a task force formed by the Community Foundation to develop recommendations on how to effectively distribute these funds. Cheri Coryea, consultant for The Patterson Foundation, serves on this task force alongside board members and staff from the Community Foundation.