- July 8, 2026
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In front of Joy Stone’s home in the Lake Club, there’s a pile of Amazon deliveries at the door atop a big yellow bin.
Inside the home, there are two more bins and stacks of boxes lined up in the living room. Every bag, box and bin is filled with sneakers.
The Lake Club Women’s Giving Circle is hosting its fifth annual Sneakin’ Back to School Sneaker Drive. The shoes will be given to The Twig, a nonprofit that allows foster children to go back-to-school shopping for free.
An Amazon wishlist and the yellow bin at Stone’s door makes it easy for neighbors to donate.
The goal is 500 pairs of sneakers, and the women have already collected 470 pairs in just one week. The drive ends July 12.
The women also found a use for the unused shoeboxes this year. Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee is taking the boxes for its annual shoebox drive. Meals on Wheels fills shoeboxes with personal items, snacks and small gifts for homebound seniors each year at Christmas.
The shoe drive is just one initiative the giving circle undertakes in its 12 years of giving.
The group has generated $32,050 in matching funds and awarded $255,075 in grants to 75 nonprofits since its inception. In just the past three years, its members have contributed over 900 service hours to local nonprofits.
Up until recently, the giving circle operated under the umbrella of the Manatee Community Foundation. On April 9, it became its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Lake Club Women’s Charitable Foundation.
Overall, between drives and donations, founder and Outgoing Chair Barbara Najmy said the giving circle's impact on the community since 2014 equates to $438,251.
Current vice-chair Jennifer Alokeh is the incoming chair, but Najmy will stay active in the nonprofit as the communications and fundraising lead.
Najmy has set a lofty goal now that the nonprofit can seek corporate sponsorships. She wants to raise $500,000 in three years.
“We receive over double the amount of asks than we have the ability to give in grants,” she said. “The needs continue to increase. They don’t get smaller.”
Members see the needs first-hand through volunteer hours. Mothers Helping Mothers is one of the nonprofits that’s been assisted through grants and volunteer days. Najmy recalled seeing mothers waiting in the lobby for formula and diapers.
“That was a tug at the heart,” she said.
The women had long discussed the transition into a 501(c)(3) because it was a way to expand their fundraising capability and reach in the community, but the leadership had to be in place first. Board members can devote anywhere from 20 to 60 hours a week vetting nonprofits and organizing events.
The Lake Club members are all volunteers, but Najmy is confident that the right leadership is in place now. She’s especially happy to pass the baton to Alokeh. The pair have worked so closely together that they joked about finishing each other’s sentences.
Alokeh, too, has a big goal in mind: Perpetuity.
“Philanthropy is about building something that outlasts us all, so what Barbara began over a decade ago, I will continue,” she said. “One of my biggest goals is to figure out a way to incorporate the younger generation into our programs. Our members have children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.”
The nonprofit is off to an excellent start having already earned a platinum rating on Candid. Candid, formerly known as GuideStar, compiles data on nonprofits across the country to make it easy for donors to research nonprofits before giving.
The more transparent a nonprofit is, the higher its rating will be. It’s a tool the foundation currently uses to help vet nonprofits before awarding grants. Now, Najmy will use the tool to court donors, as well.
The mission of the original giving circle has not changed, it’s simply grown with the members and the funding.
The initial cost to join is $1,000, and the minimum annual contribution was increased from $200 to $500 (along with a $25 administration fee). With just over 100 members, the group has $50,000 to give each year before hosting a fundraising event.
But as a newly formed nonprofit with the ability to court corporate sponsors, fundraising efforts are ramping up. Casino Royale: License to Give will be held Oct. 22 at The Lake Club Grande Clubhouse.
