Key Club members raise thousands for furloughed employees

Around this time of year is when the Longboat Key and Sarasota area fundraising events trickle to a stop after a busy winter season of philanthropy. 

With the coronavirus pandemic trashing every bit of the social calendar, in-person philanthropy stopped ages ago, when the 2020 season was reaching its height. On Longboat Key, however, the residents haven’t stopped or even slowed down much in their usual quests to help others — though they’ve had to go virtual and leave the social events behind. 

A few members of the Longboat Key Club put together a “Members Who Care” GoFundMe to raise grocery money for the club’s 349 furloughed employees, some 70% of the club’s staff. They were able to raise enough to purchase $75 Publix gift cards for every furloughed employee, said organizer Linda Mitchell. 

“My feeling was that we should look to see who in our immediate community we could be helpful in both emotional support and something concrete,” Mitchell said. 

Mitchell and a couple other women organized a grassroots, word-of-mouth campaign to raise as much money as possible as quickly as possible. The fundraiser was run as a private effort, totally unconnected to the club, so they couldn’t get an official list of members, so they reached out to as many members as they knew and encouraged those members to reach out to even more. She knows there are people she must have missed in reaching out, but was overall satisfied with the reach the grassroots campaign was able to make. 

“Even as we begin steps toward recovery, COVID-19 will continue to have severe financial impact on many for months to come,” Mitchell wrote in an email to members. “We recognize that some code club members may have already donated to other ... nonprofits, but it's time to demonstrate to our own staff that they are a vital part of our community and that we care.”

The GoFundMe was up for only about 10 days, during which time the organizers raised $26,675 in total, garnering about 150 member donations. Some were over $1,000, Mitchell said, and Publix then gave the group a discount on the bulk gift card order. 

“By the time you get it all lined up and all that, already you wished it was two weeks earlier,” Mitchell said. “It's really a matter of trying to do something, helping people that you're closest to, and working your circles out from there on what your impact can be.”

The gift cards went out about a week and a half ago, and Mitchell has gotten dozens of thank-you cards since. Nobody expected them, as they kept the fundraiser under the radar. Mitchell has gotten cards from people saying it helped them get groceries for the week, or helped them as they were taking care of a relative. 

“I've already gotten, which I didn't need or expect, but I've gotten 40 handwritten thank you notes at this point,” Mitchell said. “The thank-you notes are not dead. It's very moving to get these cards from people.”