SPECIAL NOTE: Due to the overwhelming success of the 2024 AUI/SWP Golf Tournament, we will launch the SWP Grant Project in the Fall of 2024 for charities that serve women and children in the Central FL area. 2025 Beneficiaries will be awarded grants at the AUI/SWP Golf Tournament to be held at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on Monday, February 24, 2025. Please Save the Date!
2024 IMPACT ACTIVITIES
The inaugural Applied Underwriters Invitational benefitting Swinging With Purpose® held at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on February 26, 2024 was a HUGE success! Due to the generosity of our tournament participants, we raised more than $140,000. It was a great day for our 2024 beneficiary, New Image Youth Center! A portion of the tournament proceeds will be used to cover their annual food budget (SWP’s Snack a Kid for a Year campaign) and their summer programming. Additionally, and as a result of a generous donation from a new SWP partner, we delivered updated, state of the art, desktop computers and laptops.
2023 IMPACT activities
LNLGA/LNLA Hosted a Charity Day to benefit PACE Center for Girls, Orange County. A check for $25,000 was presented to PACE representing 100% of the proceeds from the Charity Day venues. SWP begins its impact in Central FL!
Providence House - SWP made a donation of $15,000 to assist with rebuilding the housing units after significant damage was incurred with Hurricane Ian. We are always here for our beneficiaries, past and present.
2022 impact/grant fulfillments
We are proud to announce that despite fundraising challenges in 2022, were able to fulfill +$100,000 in monetary and in-kind donations to our SWP beneficiaries!
Messages from our beneficiaries:
PREMIER MOBILE HEALTH SERVICES
ALLIANCE FOR PERIOD SUPPLIES OF SWFL
PROTECTED HARBOR
We are blessed by the amazing support of Swinging with Purpose. Because of your kind generosity Protected Harbor residents will be up, outside and moving again. We are adding many new activities to our wellness schedule including; Croquet, Life Size Jenga and Connect Four, a Portable Putting Green, Horse Shoes, Disc Golf and more, thanks to you.
We will be operating a summer outdoor Olympics utilizing many of the materials you have made possible. Not only will our residents get up and moving immediately but they will be planning, strategizing, practicing and competing in creative new ways for months to come because of Swinging with Purpose. Your contribution is changing lives for so many special people. They will enjoy these activities for years to come. Many Blessings...
Loretta Mottram, Executive Director
WELLFIT GIRLS
Wellfit Girls is extremely grateful for our partnership with Swinging with Purpose. Thank you very much for your matching grant of $7,500 this year! We look forward to utilizing our program space for another year with your grant support!
Thank you!
Partners for Breast Cancer Care
We are thrilled to have your support. Your grant of $5,000 will fund 76 screening and/or diagnostic mammograms for uninsured, low-income women in SWFL at no cost to our client. What a blessing!
Thank you so much for your generosity. Swinging With Purpose will help us save lives!
Janet Darnell, Executive Director
OUR MOTHER’S HOME
PROVIDENCE HOUSE
BIKES FOR TYKES
Santa Clause called Bikes For Tykes, Inc. from his shop at the North Pole all is a 'tither'. "You folks need to help me out," he said. "I had my sleigh all packed for Christmas Eve when one of the Elves came running up waving a letter in the air. Santa you forgot this one, he exclaimed. We need bikes for 13 children in Lehigh Acres Florida. I cant get any more on the sleigh he stated. Can you help me out he asked? Derrick and Barbara are trying to make Christmas for their kids and times have really been hard for them. I really need some HELP he said.
We are on it, Santa, came the cry from Todd, Skip, and the 'un-sung heroes' of Bikes For Tykes! Compressors sang out as wrenches went twirling as the BFT crew worked through the last work days before breaking for Christmas. When done 13 shinny bikes were lined up for Barbara and Derrick to pick up. Thank you SWP for the early donation that will allow us to meet the bike needs of children in our community. Because of your support, an almost Christmas disaster was avoided for Santa.
Merry Christmas, Barbara and Derrick, and to all a GOOD NIGHT.
Skip Riffle, Founder, BFT
PROVIDENCE HOUSE
I’m so glad that you and Cheryl were able to see where we are with the retaining wall on our campus. As I explained, the ground at the rear of the property has been washing into Rock Creek over the years. We plan on building another duplex eventually and the retaining wall was needed in order to prevent more erosion of our land.
Once again you and your “crew” have been angels in support of Providence House and our mission: To provide a faith-based, transitional housing and self-sufficiency program for motivated women with young children who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Carol Hollander, Executive Director
Florida Lions Eye Clinic
The SWP grant was utilized to support “The Gift of Sight” Program which includes staffing a part-time Optometrist to help in the off-season as our volunteer Ophthalmologists go north for the summer, to purchase medical supplies and equipment for the Clinic and to provide transportation to help clients travel to and from appointments.
The Clinic changes the lives of those we serve though the following:
We Restore Vision - By providing glasses, prescriptions and comprehensive eye care, we restore the best possible vision for our patients.
We Preserve Vision - We treat eye diseases like Cataracts, Glaucoma and Retinal problems with surgery, injections and laser therapy.
We Give the Gift of Sight - We enable people to see well to do their work and live life to the fullest.
THANK YOU, SWINGING WITH PURPOSE!!!!!!
Valerie Bostic and Char Lupke
VALERIE’S HOUSE
Valerie’s House is thankful to be a beneficiary again in 2019 and appreciate Diana Riley and her team for all the hard work that went into raising so much money for local charities like ours. The money raised will help Valerie’s House expand its grief support program, including music and pet therapy. We had a great time at Quail West helping with the tournament and meeting all the golfers, including LPGA professional Michelle McGann. Thank you Swinging with Purpose for supporting our mission and sharing our vision that no child will grieve alone.
WELLFIT GIRLS
“We are so grateful to Swinging with Purpose for believing in our mission to inspire, challenge and empower teen girls to climb high in all areas of life through transformational leadership programs. Thanks to this $10,000 grant we are launching able to expand our programming to serve more girls in Southwest Florida. In July we will pilot an adventure camp and in September we will pilot a new fitness program for freshman girls at Palmetto Ridge High School. Thank you for welcoming us into the SWP family! We are also looking forward to collaborating with the other beneficiaries.”
DREAMCATCHERS
As a brand new start up organization located in Immokalee, we couldn’t be more grateful for your decision to invest in our work with young people. The foundation of our youth development model is centered upon building positive relationships with students over a 9-year time frame and your gift has given us the confidence to start this process with our first cohort of students and begin raising aspirations by introducing them to the diversity of life outside the focus of their everyday lives. The multi-passenger van(s) will allow us to move our kids outside the town of Immokalee and will be paramount in helping us meet our goal of exposure and broadening of experiences and perspectives.
Thank you so much for all you’re doing for the entire Southwest Florida region and for including us in your generous giving!
The Dreamcatchers Board of Directors
NEW HORIZONS
We are so appreciative of the entire Swinging with Purpose team. Your grant helps us to provide 600+ at-risk students with life-changing after school and summer tutoring and mentoring while exposing them to community-wide opportunities they so desperately need to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. Our students are growing in academic excellence, social skills and character development and along with that comes hope and opportunity. For the last three years, our teens have a 100% graduation rate from high school while the overall FL graduation last year was 86.1%.
With over 50,000 at-risk students in our community, our programs are desperately needed and we will grow next year to increase enrollment to 720. Only with support from generous groups like Swinging with Purpose is this growth possible!
What a difference we are making together. Thank you for helping us to empower tomorrow's generation today!
Debra Haley | Executive Director
Sunlight Home
Thank you to all who participated in our Annual Swing Month and this year's Annual Golf Tournament at Kensington. It is because of your support Sunlight Home has a new roof!
Providence House
Cheryl Ollila (left) and Sandie Fleming (right) board members of Swinging With Purpose presenting executive director, Jean Takacs with their check of support.
New deck and screening for the units in Providence House is on its way due to Swinging With Purpose and an anonymous donor! Thank you!
2015 golf tournament - $55,000 is presented to our beneficiaries
SWP Board and Committee Members and Beneficiaries
PACE Center for Girls, collier
PACE Girls w/Nancy Lopez
PACE Center for Girls, Collier at Immokalee had a wonderful experience working with Diana Riley, Nancy Lopez and everyone from Swinging With Purpose™! It was truly an honor to be chosen as one of the charities to benefit from the golf tournament and pre-tournament activities. With the +$50,000 donation, our center started a health and fitness initiative. The resources we received funded a PE teacher and gave us the opportunity to offer PE for credit for the first time ever. It feels great to be part of the Swinging With Purpose™ community!
Marianne Kearns, M. Ed, Executive Director, PACE Center for Girls, Collier
Dress for Success
Thanks to Swinging with Purpose, Dress for Success in Naples has been able to purchase racks to hang attire, shoes racks, as well purchasing badly needed large size clothing from sizes 20 – 26 and other clothing that is not available in our boutique. We have been able to network in the community to recruit for volunteer Personal Shoppers and Mentors and again thanks to Swinging with Purpose have had the opportunity to meet other non-profit organizations; such as the Shelter for Abused Women and Children.
From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the Dress for Success SW Florida, we graciously thank you!
Barbara Dell, CEO/Founder, Dress for Success SW Florida
LACES of Love
Laces of Love is able to purchase many new sneakers and socks for needy children in Collier county because of the Foundation: Swinging with a Purpose! Over 276 needy children were fitted in new shoes! As I measured tiny little feet and many big middle school children’s feet as well, I saw the look of gratitude and excitement in many faces as they received a new pair of socks and new shoes. Some of these children were wearing shoes two sizes too small for their feet. Many did not have socks on their feet and their shoes were torn and full of holes. Without your help and the support of the Golf tournament, we would not be able to help these kids. We are so grateful for your organization and your concern for the children in our community. Diana, and your wonderful board have embraced our charity and we are so touched by your kindness. We have started our back to school shoe deliveries and we have been able to give more shoes out this year because of your help.
Thank you again for your tremendous support for Laces of Love!
Jeanne Nealon, Co-Founder/President
Our Mother’s Home
Resident posing with her daughter as they head out in the SUV purchased by SWP 12/2014
Karen Watson, Executive Director, Our Mother's Home with multi-passenger van.
Our Mother’s Home received $25,000.00 from Swinging with Purpose™ to help with the purchase of a 15 passenger van, used for transporting residents and their children. In December, 2015, SWP purchased a SUV for OMH, providing much needed reliable and spacious transportation. An SUV is the perfect vehicle when transporting a mom with her child for appointments, etc. There is a feeling of normalcy that does not come from being transported in a multi-passenger vehicle. Both purchases have made a big difference for OMH.
We commend Swinging With Purpose™ on your efforts to meet the needs of Our Mother’s Home and the community. Thank you.
Karen Watson, MSW, Executive Director
Providence House
Providence House is beyond grateful to Swinging With Purpose for their generous donation of $22,000! Providence House, serving homeless women with young children was able to purchase much needed appliances - stoves, refrigerators, washing machines and dryers along with new hot water tanks for each of our apartments. This was a true blessing and a much need donation as some of our appliances were over 35 years old. The mother’s upon hearing the news that they would be receiving these appliances were in awe that an organization would do this for them. Two remarked, “Oh good, because I only have one burner that is working on my stove.” When asked by the Providence House staff why they had not filled out a repair form for their stoves, they replied that they were just so grateful for what they had.”
This donation from Swinging With Purpose gave each women a sense of their dignity, helped them to regain trust in people and definitely gave them hope for a better future along their path to independence. To all the participants in this Swinging With Purpose event, I encourage you to continue to swing with purpose allowing this wonderful organization to keep moving fore-ward in their mission! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for choosing Providence House! Thank you for taking the “H” in homeless and turning it into an “H” for “Hope” and “Homeless” no more!
Jean Takacs, Executive Director
Sunlight Home
Sunlight Home received $23,000 from Swinging With Purpose to purchase a desperately needed 2015 Chevrolet 15-passenger van which we will use to transport all of our maternity and transitional housing residents and their children, in comfort and safety, to school, work and appointments. This beautiful new vehicle replaced our 1997 Chevrolet van that was on "life support" after many years of service. Without this generous donation from Swinging with Purpose, we would not have been able to provide such comfortable, reliable transportation for our mothers and their children.
We are so grateful to the Swinging with Purpose Family and their support for our programs for homeless, "at risk" pregnant women and teens. Your compassion and kindness for our organization and others committed to making a difference in the lives of the women and children in our community is unsurpassed. Thank you from our mothers, children, staff and volunteers for choosing Sunlight Home as one of your beneficiaries.