Rotary Happenings: Friends Who Care is low-key non-profit making a difference on islands
Twenty-five years and counting for one of Sanibel’s most low-key, charitable non-profit organizations – Friends Who Care, which was founded in 1983 by Theresa and Tom Louwers. The purpose at the time, and even today, was to quietly help island residents and employees cope with a range of small emergency needs, from gas cards enabling employees to get to work and needed baby supplies, to covering day care costs, sports equipment and musical instruments for after-school programs, and holiday meals and presents from Santa.
Friends Who Care is not a highly financed operation, but it is funded by the generosity of islanders and island service clubs that believe that help can be given in small ways to those in need, but those small gifts can make a huge difference in someone’s life.
Tom Louwers was Rotary’s recent guest speaker and he truly cares and connects with the people he serves. Theresa Louwers died several years ago, but Louwers continues to spearhead the charitable program with his daughter – he told me it is Theresa’s legacy. Every dollar donated to Friends Who Care goes directly to the people it serves.
Friends Who Care has help in identifying families and individuals in need. It works closely with the school, police department, churches, Community Housing & Resources and F.I.S.H. of Sanibel-Captiva. Relationships with service organizations on-island, such as Kiwanis, Rotary and Zonta, help with various support for Friends. The organization provides a number of gift cards throughout the year for things like gas, school supplies, youth sports equipment and musical instruments, camp tuitions, class trip money, school picture money and a number of other needs.
Coming up soon is the Friends Who Care’s Island Holiday Giving Tree Toy Drive. Giving trees are placed at various locations around the island and hold leaves identifying age, gender and holiday wishes of the children and their families. Gifts of new toys and gift cards can be brought to the Friends Who Care office, at 1619 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel. Some of the gift cards may be used to purchase additional toys, while others are given as gifts covering the needs of the families.
Volunteers then take over from there, sorting through the toys and gifts, selecting the toys that are appropriate to each child, holding holiday wrapping events at The Community Center, sorting again to gather each family’s gifts together and labeling where they will be delivered to. The gifts are then given to Kiwanis dressed up as Santas for delivery. Louwers said last year’s drive gifted 150 children and their families with toys, gift cards, candy and holiday meals.
An interesting factoid about the toy distribution: a recorded history is kept for each child and family – what toys they have received and what year. It prevents the children from receiving the same toy they received in previous years. Smart thinking on the organization’s part. A couple of years ago, Friends Who Care started an on-island cereal drive, and hopefully this year it will surpass the 500 boxes collected last year. Zonta affectionally called the milkmaids’ supplies milk money. The cereal and milk money is then given to F.I.S.H. for distribution.
As everyone knows, this year residents, small business owners and their employees are suffering because of a unusually long and large toxic outbreak of red tide and blue-green algae around the islands and its impact on island businesses. Hotels, restaurants and retailers have been hit hard – less revenue and smaller paychecks for employees. Island businesses are feeling the crunch, and it has had a rippling effect. This year, charitable organizations like Friends Who Care will need even more help. Friends Who Care is an organization that everyone can support, so Rotary encourages the community to help do its part by helping the families. When out shopping, pick up an extra gift card if you can and bring it over to the group’s office.
“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”
– John Holmes
The Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club will be busy in the next few weeks:
– Oct. 24: Rotary International and all Rotary Clubs will celebrate World Polio Day
– Nov. 10: “Meals of Hope” food packing event planned in partnership with the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ
For information about the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club, visit sanibelrotary.org or www.facebook.com/sancaprotary. The club meets every Friday at 7 a.m. at the Dunes Golf and Tennis Club, at 949 Sand Castle Road, Sanibel; visitors are welcome to attend.