From our Executive Director We hope this message finds you all safe after Hurricane Ian’s exit. Many of our Take Stock family members were impacted by the storm. Our Take Stock Sarasota team members have been busy contacting all our students to make sure they are safe and have food. As of Friday, 10/7, we have heard from 267 of our 308 students. We will continue to reach out until we have heard from all Take Stock Sarasota students. The district plan is that traditional public schools from Taylor Ranch, north, will open on Monday, 10/10. Traditional schools in North Port will open on Monday, 10/17. Our Take Stock Sarasota College Success Coaches will be on campus to help at their schools and to track down any students who have not responded prior to October 10th. We have been posting links to available post-storm resources on our Take Stock in Children, Sarasota County Facebook page and will continue as we receive updates. Our College Success Coaches also have access to these links and contact numbers. Thank you to the School Board of Sarasota County and all the administrators who worked tirelessly in the shelters. Thank you to all the foundations and community organizations who are providing help to so many families affected by Hurricane Ian. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people. I am confident that we will all come together to help each other. I know that we will give grace to our amazing students who made it through the isolation of a global pandemic and are now experiencing the aftermath of a category 4 hurricane. While driving through a neighborhood hit hard by Ian, we saw a handwritten sign that said, “find the blessing”. As hard as we know this time has been and is for so many, let’s all take a moment to find the blessing. Our Take Stock students, families, mentors, donors, community partners, school partners, volunteers and team members are our blessings. We know that together, we will build back stronger than ever.
Follow us @tsicsrq OCTOBER 2022