Temple Emanu-El held its annual Mitzvah Day, an afternoon of community service, on May 7. It comprised 25 different hands-on service projects and 10 different donation drives throughout Sarasota and Manatee counties.

The day was made possible through the generosity of local businesses.

Shaffer’s American Custom Golf Carts Sarasota underwrote 100 bags that were filled with items to comfort adults and children receiving chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

Yarnall Moving and Storage provided dozens of boxes and box tape to collect donations. Arnaldo Pereira at Studio 7119 donated hygiene supplies and the Kaplan Foundation funded the purchase of new books for children at a local Title 1 elementary school.

Also supporting Mitzvah Day were Detwiler’s and Morton’s, as well as Sarasota and Manatee locations of Target, Costco, Walmart, Publix, Whole Foods, Winn-Dixie and Trader Joe’s.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s “Feeding Hungry Families” manuscript, written in collaboration with All Faiths Food Bank, has been published in the upcoming special issue of Local Development & Society, a national, peer-reviewed journal.

The manuscript will be featured in a special issue on place-based philanthropic institutions and community development.

The manuscript reviewed “Feeding Hungry Families,” the successful collective impact initiative created by Gulf Coast, its donors and All Faiths Food Bank to feed hungry families in Sarasota and DeSoto counties.

Launched in 2014, the initiative focused on collecting local data, increasing community awareness of the need and launching the Campaign Against Summer Hunger (CASH).

In its first year, our community raised more than $1.2 million and 766,253 pounds of food. Ten years later, more than $14 million has been raised since the program’s inception.

Long term, the Feeding Hungry Families Initiative has increased community capacity to distribute nutritious food and improved collaboration between All Faiths Food Bank and partner agencies.

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Lakewood Ranch Rotary Club awarded $4,590 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast for three iPads and data plans for Manatee and Sarasota mentor managers who serve Lakewood Ranch. Fulfilling the agency’s mission requires the daily use of certain technological equipment.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received $10,000 from the United Way of Charlotte County for Hurricane Ian Relief Fund.

This emergency funding will provide the opportunity for BBBSSC to directly meet more of its children’s recovery needs, such that our youth and their families can be saved an additional and time-consuming step during this exceedingly challenging time.

The Bradenton Rotary Foundation awarded $2,500 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast for background screenings.

Fulfilling the agency’s mission requires the completion of a thorough enrollment process for all volunteer mentors, including an in-depth background screening (with a fingerprint check through the FBI’s national database and a complete driving record from the state), ensuring that child safety remains BBBSSC’s highest priority.

In addition to continually screening new mentors, BBBSSC rescreens volunteers every three years to ensure the safety of the youth served.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received a $1,500 grant from the Plantation Community Foundation for tablets and one-year data plan for three South Sarasota County mentor managers.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Businesses donate to annual day of community service