Call for Grant Applications

Each year, the Siesta Key Kiwanis Club grants thousands of dollars to local organizations that are supporting children in Sarasota. We look for programs where we can get the biggest bang for the buck and help the most children. If you are an organization that helps kids in Sarasota, be sure to apply for a grant. If you know of a worthy organization, send them a link to our Grant Application. Click

here to get our application. The deadline for grant application submissions is April 15, 2022.

Imagine you are three years old. You are in pre-school class, playing with your friends. The teacher hands you a brown envelope that is ADDRESSED TO YOU. In it is a book that is about a thing you like, and it has YOUR NAME in it. The teacher reads the book to the class, and then you get to take the book home. It is YOURS. It is the FIRST BOOK you have ever owned.

The Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County (ELC) seeks to ensure that children enter kindergarten ready to learn. The Literacy Buddy program pairs pre-school children with adults. It’s like pen pals. The children make a drawing showing a book subject - for example, “a book about cars.” With the teacher’s help, the request is sent to the child’s “buddy.” The buddy buys an age-appropriate book about cars, writes a note to the child, adds a bookplate with the child’s name to the book, and puts the book with the letter in an envelope addressed to the child at their pre-school.

Buddies do this three times a year, so by the end of the year, involved children have at least three books of their own. So please consider being a pre-schooler’s buddy. You may change a life.

For more information, click HERE.

Supporting Sarasota Teachers All Year Long

Sarasota teachers spend hundreds of dollars of their own money to decorate their classrooms and buy supplies for their students. The Siesta Key Kiwanis Club sponsors several classrooms each year but there is always more that need help. If you want to support Sarasota teachers any time of the year, check out the Adopt a Sarasota County Facebook Group, where Sarasota teachers post their needs to support their students.