Longboat Island Chapel hosts happy hour for Stillpoint Mission donations

Longboat Island Chapel hosted its monthly charity happy hour on Aug. 15. This month, the chapel collected children’s socks and shoelaces to donate to Stillpoint Mission in Bradenton, just in time for back-to-school season. 

The “Sock It To ‘Em and Tie ‘Em Up” event was hosted by Anne Summers. She made it superhero themed to keep in mind the interests of the children they would be donating to. The group filled a trunk full of different colored socks and shoelaces.

The representatives from Stillpoint Mission were Angelina and Leo Bens. They moved to the area from New Jersey for retirement and made volunteering their passion project. They have volunteered for Stillpoint Mission for six years. 

“Most of the people we serve in the community, they go to many different places, but everybody knows my husband and me,” said Angelina. “Before the pandemic, we used to serve at four places so we know everybody. It’s a great community.”

At Stillpoint, Angelina mainly organizes the diaper section and Leo works in the food department. They volunteer there every Wednesday and Friday. They also volunteer at One More Child. 

The chapel hosts happy hours every month to encourage people to learn more about donation recipients and to build community with other chapel members. These events have encouraged people to donate more, said Summers.

“It’s amazing what this does,” said Summers. “Before, we were getting a little container of donations that people would bring on Sunday. But then we started doing these happy hours and we just get a lot of people. Many people don’t have that many parties to go to, so something like this is really fun and a great way to up the donations.”