Drive-through event held at organization’s main office in Sarasota
As they do every year, the teens involved with Safe Children Coalition’s Achievers program helped to plan and execute the turkey distribution. Also pictured (front, right of center) are longtime Achievers program Manager Jone Williams and philanthropist Dan Dannheisser. Photo courtesy of Safe Children Coalition
On Nov. 23, the Safe Children Coalition (SCC) provided 550 full Thanksgiving meals to families in need via a drive-through event at its main office in north Sarasota, the nonprofit has announced.
“Eligible recipient families were those being served through SCC programs such as Achievers, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), Schoolhouse Link, and the Youth Shelter, as well as other partnering agencies that serve low-income families,” a news release says.
“For nearly 30 years, SCC has distributed Thanksgiving meals to those in need,” a tradition that began as a service project for the teens in the Achievers program to give back to the community,” the release explains. This year, each family received a turkey large enough to feed eight, along with vegetables, other side dishes and pie. “The meals are provided by Publix, which offers the food at a discounted cost in support of the effort,” the release adds.
Since this initiative began, the release continues, “more than 6,500 Thanksgiving meals have been provided to families in need, thanks to donations from the community and the hard work of the Achievers in planning and carrying out the event.
“A special thank-you is in order for Sarasota lawyer and longtime turkey drive sponsor Dan Dannheisser for — as he has each and every year — spearheading the fundraising campaign and personally funding numerous meals,” the release adds. Coalition leaders also offer their gratitude to Laura Strub-Potter, president of Construction Supply of Southwest Florida Inc., “which continued its longtime tradition of providing a truck to deliver the turkey meals to the distribution site,” the release says. Strub-Potter not only has been involved with the turkey distribution effort since its inception, the release points out, but she also has fostered and adopted children, with training and support from the SCC.
Jacqueline House, the Coalition’s vice president of communications and community engagement, was on-site for the 2024 event, the release continues. “She reports that this year has been particularly rough on the children and families served by the organization,” the release notes.
“We hear from our families that, in addition to the costs of living remaining high in our area, the hurricanes contributed to additional financial strain, due to property damage and food spoilage due to the loss of power,” said House in the release. “Every year, we know our children and families look forward to knowing that — no matter what — they will have a healthy and happy holiday feast to enjoy with their loved ones.”
Feeding America reports that 47 million people in the United States are food insecure, including “14 million (one in five) children,” the release points out. High costs of living and the recent hurricanes that affected Florida “have only worsened the hunger crisis for families who were already at risk,” the release says. “Distributing Thanksgiving meals is just one of the ways the Safe Children Coalition provides crucial support for families in need.”
For more about the Coalition, visit sccfl.org.