Myakka nonprofit provides a hand up

Myakka City resident Holley Dekmar was visiting family in Suwannee County, just east of Florida’s panhandle, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to take its grip on the United States.

When she came home, everything was shut down.

For someone who has remained active in her community her whole life, that was a problem.

“I was bored,” Dekmar said. “I'm used to helping and doing things. Then I see a lot of these (nonprofit) organizations saying that if they don't get help, they're going to have to close their doors.”

So she found a new way to help those around her.

Dekmar founded Giving Back 941, Inc., which was incorporated as a nonprofit July 31. Giving Back 941 donated $59,479 over the course of 18 fundraisers in 2020. The money went to a variety of causes: a woman battling cancer, nonprofits, a family that needed to pay for a funeral after two loved ones died in a car accident, churches and more.

The organization raises money through its Facebook page, which has more than 1,600 members. Dekmar said her average fundraiser consists of about 100 raffles, including items such as Yeti coolers, camping tents and Apple watches. She posts about 15 to 20 raffles on Facebook per day.

For example, if Dekmar used a $100 item for one of her raffles, she might provide 30 slots for people to sign up at $5 apiece. Once all the slots are full, she then uses $100 to buy the item and sends the other $50 to the organization or individual for whom the fundraiser is intended. Then, Dekmar randomly selects someone from the 30 people who signed up to receive the prize, and a second-place winner who gets a free ticket to sign up for a slot on a different item or fundraiser.

“I've had so many people tell me, ‘We donate more this way than we have ever donated in our life,’” Dekmar said. "This, it's kind of fun for them. They know that they're helping, and they may get something out of it.”

The organization has two board members besides Dekmar: Barbara Gardner and Dawn Mitchell. Dekmar’s mother, Susan Goodman, also helps, but Dekmar said she does about 90% of the work herself. She finds all the items to be raffled, sends them directly to the winners and distributes all the leftover money to the individuals and organizations in need by herself.

At the same time, Dekmar has a family and children to take care of, so she is scaling down from one fundraiser per week last year to one or two per month in 2021. She hasn’t set a goal for total money donated this year, but she wants to see Giving Back 941’s reach on Facebook grow to 5,000 members.

Dekmar has helped organizations such as Prospect Riding Center, Giving Alliance of Myakka City, Myakka City’s Operation Santa and Infinite Wishes. Organizations and individuals are usually chosen for fundraisers if they reach out to her or if someone she knows suggests them.

She tries to stay local, but she’s willing to help organizations across Florida. She also prefers to help smaller organizations, because she said large ones can usually secure assistance from the government or other sources.

“And I will research the organization,” Dekmar said. “If I find any bad marks on them, I won't do them. Because I don't want people thinking that I support an organization that is not legitimate or not functioning properly.”