Lakewood Ranch's John Rapp and Susan Rapp drop off 249 shoeboxes the Acts of Kindness Group at Grace Community Church made. The group more than doubled its donations compared to last year.
Photo by Liz Ramos
East County
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Lakewood Ranch's Susan Rapp and her husband, John Rapp, drove up to the Lakewood Ranch Elks Lodge with 249 wrapped shoeboxes in their car.
They didn't have any room for passengers.
Susan Rapp said she challenged the Acts of Kindness Group at Grace Community Church to fill and wrap 200 of the shoeboxes, doubling last year's Shoebox Collection donation to the annual Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee event.
She said the 249 boxes they collected this year were "breathtaking."
Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee was hoping to collect 1,000 shoeboxes for volunteers and staff to deliver to seniors in need throughout the holidays. The Rapps' delivery moved them well toward that goal.
It took several trips for John Rapp and Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee volunteers to unload the car and move them to nonprofit's van during the annual shoebox drive Dec. 2.
Individuals, community groups and businesses donated the boxes for the Shoebox Collection before enjoying a party at the Elks Club if they so desired.
Some people, like Lakewood Ranch's Shari Nastri, were donating for the first time.
Nastri, the owner of Jazzercise Lakewood Ranch, found out about the drive from River Club's Carole Sullivan. When Nastri brought the idea to her clients, she said they embraced it with excitement and they collectively donated 40 shoeboxes.
Lakewood Ranch's John Rapp and Susan Rapp drop off 249 shoeboxes the Acts of Kindness Group at Grace Community Church made. The group more than doubled its donations compared to last year.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Lakewood Ranch's Bettie Reuter and Elaine Kaup are all smiles as they donate shoeboxes for Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Sarasota's Marie Gowgiel, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee, and Dana Maassen, the nonprofit's chief financial officer, greet guests and collect donated shoeboxes.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Lakewood Ranch's Jim Nastri, Shari Nastri and Stephanie Wilkinson drop off the 40 boxes Shari Nastri and her Jazzercise clients created.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Parrish's Sue and John Sommer participate in Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee's Shoebox Collection for the first time. They learned about the drive during the Empty Box event and thought it was a nice idea.
Photo by Liz Ramos
East County's Sam Gibson and Campbell Pope, who play for Gulf Coast Volleyball, donate shoeboxes they made with their teammates Layton Pope and Summer Smith-Pope. The 11 girls on the team donated 21 boxes.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Lakewood Ranch's Gale Martin and Joyce Brown look at the available raffle items at the Lakewood Ranch Elks Lodge.
Photo by Liz Ramos
A van is nearly filled with hundreds of shoeboxes for senior citizens throughout Manatee County.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Amy Towery, the vice president of development for Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee, and Maribeth Phillips, the president and CEO of the nonprofit, are thrilled to see so many shoebox donations.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Dozens of items are available for a raffle.
Photo by Liz Ramos
Lakewood Ranch Barbara Milian brings two shoeboxes and a $500 donation.
Managing Editor Liz Ramos previously covered education and community for the East County Observer. Before moving to Florida, Liz was an education reporter for the Lynchburg News & Advance in Virginia for two years after graduating from the Missouri School of Journalism.
