Lakewood Ranch Giving Circle spreads its cheer

Perhaps the young women who came together to form Cheers for Charity are just getting started when it comes to raising funds.

Obviously, they already have a lot to give.

The group, a Giving Circle under the direction of the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund, handed out $4,800 in grants on Sept. 28 during a ceremony at the Manatee Community Foundation.

“It’s amazing what these millennials are doing in the community,” said Dari Oglesby, the executive director at Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue, which was one of four nonprofits to receive $1,200.

“We’re going to need people of younger generations to change something.”

Cheers for Charity is the newest, and youngest in terms of the age of the members, Giving Circle of the six at Lakewood Ranch. They formed in May 2015 and have been trying to raise funds since.

“We’re a group of diverse professionals who all have different passions,” said 29-year-old Janel Shinn, a co-founder of Cheers for Charity and a registered nurse at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton. “We found that if we collectively came together that, as a group, we could donate to the community much more effectively.”

During a ceremony that included wine, food and checks, Cheers for Charity presented grants to Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue, Hope Family Services, Sarasota Manatee Association for Riding Therapies and Elks Feeding Empty Little Tummies.

“Growing up in Bradenton, there’s been no opportunity for younger women to give back to the community,” said Ann Breitinger, a Cheers for Charity member. “So instead of getting involved with someone else’s group, we decided to create our own.”

The group meets on a quarterly basis, where the women will socialize, talk about their lives and discuss nonprofits that need help.

“We each sort of throw out organizations, depending on what means most to us, and we bring a lot of different ideas to the table,” Breitinger said. “We then do our research, create a report, and the top choices end up being the ones we give to.”

To be part of Cheers for Charity, each member is required to donate $200 annually.

Co-founder Amanda Tullidge, 28, was inspired by her own mother, Julie Smith, to start helping the community.

“My mom started the first Giving Circle in Lakewood Ranch,” Tullidge said. “So that gave me some funding ideas. If everyone gives a little, but everyone comes together, we can give so much more than what we could do separately.

“This group is so much fun. We’re all professionals during the day, so its nice having a group of girls to drink with and then somehow turn that into raising money for charity.”