- March 30, 2025
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At six years old, Kelly Borgia's daughter has already embraced the "You Matter" campaign by Gulf Coast Community Foundation, where Borgia serves as director of brand engagement.
She recently left Borgia, one of the foundation's "You Matter" cards, writing onto it the message "Number one mom."
The small cards feature the words "You Matter" on one side, with a message including the words "Pass it on," and a QR code linking to a Facebook group about the cards, on the other.
Borgia says the usage of the cards range from showing appreciation for a colleague who helps with a project or grabs a cup of coffee, to thanking your barista, to offering them to friends, neighbors and family, or whatever possibilities people can find.
"You Matter," which the foundation calls a "kindness campaign," officially runs March 24-30.
It replaces the Better Together Block Party held on State Street for the last three years, which itself grew from a Better Together luncheon event inviting speakers to share ideas impacting the region.
"In thinking about Better Together this year and the block party, the real root, the soul of both of those events has always been about providing a collective experience to the community, something to bring people together around an idea or concept," Borgia said.
She said the foundation wanted to offer something positive that is a counterpoint to all the divisiveness in the world today.
"We landed on 'You Matter,' because it is a really easily and universally understood message," she said. "Old, young, doesn't matter your religion or your race, everyone understands this really powerful message that 'you matter' in the world, and it doesn't have to be given with any grandiose monolog or expectation of anything in return, just being intentional with people, to say, 'You matter. I appreciate you.'"
She said after the foundation sent out a teaser email on the campaign last week, six people reached out to request cards within a few hours.
"Many people's responses so far have been, this is so needed, and this is so wonderful, and I'm so excited to participate. When are you doing the block party?" she said.
She said although people have expressed sadness around the block party not being held this year, the foundation will be involved with the Celebration of Kindness by Embracing Our Differences, held March 30 at Bayfront Park.
There, the team spread the message of the "You Matter" campaign and performing a surprise random act of kindness for the community.
So far, about 10,000 of the cards are printed, with some of them sent to 12 partner organizations, including the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, Family Promise of South Sarasota County, DreamLarge and others.
The public can pick up the cards at both the Sarasota and Venice offices of Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
She says she hopes the campaign will last longer than one week.
"I think that it's organically growing, and kindness doesn't have an expiration date," she said. "There's no reason that things have to end on March 30... This is definitely something that our community can embrace and continue. I would love for Sarasota to be known as the kindest community on the west coast of Florida, the state of Florida, for—there's so much generosity here."
