Lakewood Ranch effort raises $114,507 for the Stillpoint Mission

As a 6-year-old, Shoreview's Ellie Tullidge has three files, each labeled with the following — saving, spending and charity. 

With her parents, Amanda and Dan Tullidge, providing funds for her charity file, she then decided to donate $25 to Stillpoint Mission, a 100% volunteer-run Bradenton nonprofit that provides essential resources (including food, hygiene products, diapers and more) to those in need. 

“It’s going to make other people feel good,” Tullidge said about her donation. 

Tullidge is following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Country Club East’s Bob Smith, who has been raising money for Stillpoint Mission for the last 15 years. 

“If you look at Ellie's smile, that's what I call beaming,” Smith said. “That's how happy she is about the whole notion of helping Stillpoint (Mission).” 

When Smith first decided to raise money in 2012 for Stillpoint, there were nine donors who donated $1,500. Every year the donations grew — raised by sending out email requests to golfers and community members.. Smith is proud of the “unblemished record.” 

In 2025, $84,017 was raised. This year there was a new goal and a new theme — "Stillpoint Needs a Place.”

While donations from previous years have provided essentials such as food, this year the goal was to raise money for a new building as storage and safety in the existing Stillpoint building at 1608 14th S. W. does not meet the needs of clients. 

Smith was worried whether his fundraising campaign could reach the $84,017 collected the previous year. 

But his progress updates were telling a different story. He eventually learned that 90 donors were able to accumulate $114,507 for the mission. This makes the 15-year total $633,507. 

Courtesy image

To show off the new results, Tullidge was glad to put her art skills to the test by creating six different drawings to spell out the $633,507. Despite being sick a couple of days prior to the check presentation, Tullidge jumped up and down after learning that her grandfather had once again exceeded his goal. 

Smith said he is grateful to the donors, many who have donated all 15 years. By next year, he hopes to have new donors added to his email list in order to increase the exposure and chance of raising more funds. 

While Smith has led the effort to raise money over the years through sending out emails every spring, he said it is the volunteers who make the true difference. 

Gene Tischer, past president of Stillpoint Mission and current office manager, said Smith’s efforts over the years have been significant in the services Stillpoint has been able to provide. Tischer started volunteering at Stillpoint in 2011. 

“It's an honor and a privilege,” Tischer said. “I get to see smiles, I get to see people who are grateful for what we're able to accomplish.” 

Photo by Madison Bierl