Barancik Foundation awards $11.8 million in grants

The Board of Directors of Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation recently awarded $11.8 million in grants intended to further improve the quality of education in Sarasota County’s public schools and preschools, expand access to health care and the arts for underserved communities, support environmental education at conservation sites on Sarasota Bay and more.

The grants were approved during the Feb. 9. board meeting.

A total of $4.8 million was awarded to improve education access and quality in Sarasota County and parts of the surrounding region. This includes $981,519 to support Sarasota County School District efforts to attract and retain teachers; and $310,000 for the Foundation’s TIME Fellowship program, which offers public school teachers the opportunity to complete a personal project designed to reinvigorate their love of teaching and renew their commitment to the profession. The grant will also fund 25 new fellowships of up to $12,000 each.

Other signature education initiatives to benefit early learning in Sarasota County to improve kindergarten readiness includes $1.13 million to recruit and retain more qualified preschool teachers, provide behavioral health supports in classrooms and to families, and offer professional development for teachers and preschool directors. 

Also, a three-year grant of $2.38 million was awarded to YMCA of Southwest Florida to improve quality and expand access at Sarasota County’s largest child care provider. 

Social and community well-being grants include:

• FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, $50,000.
• Embracing Our Differences, $102,786.
• Ringling College of Art and Design, $550,000 to serve residents who have been historically underrepresented at museums.
• Jewish Family & Children’s Service of the Suncoast, $563,744. 
• Community News Collaborative, $3 million over the next three years.
• Longboat Key Foundation, $25,000 for improvements to Quick Point Preserve.
• Florida Institute of Saltwater Heritage, $165,000 to enhance public access to the FISH Preserve in Manatee County.
• Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay, $250,000 to repair and rehabilitate homes in the Newtown neighborhood and in DeSoto County.
• SunCoast Blood Centers, $46,000.
• Barancik Foundation Health Equity Initiative, $250,000.

In addition the board approved just more than $2 million in grants to benefit more than 30 organizations that the foundation supports annually, as well as $25,000 to support the charitable efforts of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.