‘Land Sea Air’ fundraiser to benefit Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc.
The inaugural “Land Sea Air” event — a fundraiser to support Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc. (CCMI), an innovative, non-profit partnership striving to eliminate hunger and homelessness in Southwest Florida — will be held on Saturday, April 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. at South Seas Island Resort.
But what makes this fundraiser unique isn’t necessarily what goes on during the event, but rather how attendees arrive.
“The fun will be in watching how creative our friends and neighbors are in their choice of arrival to this event,” said event chair Harry Silverglide in a CCMI statement. “The South Seas Island Resort team is pulling out all the stops in what is sure to be a signature event to raise funds that will make a real difference for those in need in our area. You cannot ignore the daily headlines about how our Lee County neighbors are struggling. As many as 97 percent of some school children are on free or reduced lunch and over 700 children are homeless. These numbers are growing and we cannot sit back and do nothing.”
CCMI Project Leader Debra Almeida agrees and said that she’s thrilled to be sharing the organization’s mission with islanders — especially because she knows firsthand how caring and generous residents of Sanibel and Captiva can be.
After moving to the islands with her husband and children, Almeida suddenly lost her husband to illness, leaving her to raise her four children alone.
Well, not quite alone, Almeida said.
“Those islands were so good to me and my family. People drove my kids to school and practice, and they helped by children not only to survive, but to thrive. I feel so blessed to have experienced their generosity — I know what people on these islands can do because I’ve been a recipient,” Almeida said. “Now, I’m on the other side, and I’m so glad to be a part of CCMI — it’s my way of giving back and I absolutely love my job.”
“Land Sea Air” will be the first fundraising event for CCMI held on the islands, and Almeida said she hopes it will be an opportunity for islanders to learn more about the plight affecting their neighbors across the bridge and how they can help.
“CCMI is small enough to be innovative and respond quickly to needs in the community, but right now we’re in the process of transforming our services — like changing our Soup Kitchen into a community café, serving more schools through CCMI’s Mobile Food Pantry, establishing new choice marketplaces and community cafés and adding more schools and students to our weekend backpack program,” Almeida said.
All funds raised will benefit Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc., which, locally, provides more than 14,000 meals each month through their Soup Kitchen and Meals on Wheels programs. The non-profit agency also educates 40 children in their Community Montessori Preschool, provides weekend backpacks full of food to more than 2,500 children each school year and oversees a mobile food pantry and everyday choice marketplace.
CCMI’s Everyday Café and Marketplace concept, Almeida said, makes food more easily available to everyone in the community who is hungry — but more importantly, it lessens the stigma associated with standing in line for a hot meal or groceries and reduces significant waste in the preselected grocery bag model, where everyone standing in line gets a standard bag of items.
“A lot of the people we help are people who are experiencing difficult times — they’ve just lost their jobs or they’re about to lose their home — and many of them are at the point where they have to choose between paying bills or buying food,” Almeida said. “But we’re there to help, and we believe that if we can just get them back on their feet — through case counseling and the choice marketplace, especially — they can transform their own lives.”
But in order to continue, CCMI needs help.
“Land Sea Air” ticket prices begin at $500 per couple and go as high as $1,000 — the ticket price is dependent upon the unique way in which each couple decides to arrive. Travel options include a sea plane, helicopter, the Captiva fire truck, chartered boats, personal watercraft, limousine, parasail, kayak and, of course, golf cart.
Tax-deductible sponsorship opportunities are available from $1,000 to $20,000.
For more information about “Land Sea Air” and to order tickets call 239-277-3168.
Learn more about Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc. and how to donate by going to www.CCMILeeCounty.com.