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BEYOND OURSELVES Marlene Hofer, marlenehofer@comcast.net

As we often write and speak about, Beyond Ourselves has three goals for serving needs within Charlotte County: serve
the homeless; help the needy children; and preserve the environment and wildlife. We are very excited about these three
areas of need within our County where we live. We want to make the best use of the funds raised and continually work
with a variety of organizations to accomplish our mission. Just as Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer, was
credited for being the first European to set foot on Florida land and name it La Florida, we set out to discover how we
can aid in preserving the beautiful wildlife and beauty in Charlotte Harbor, help out the needy children, and offer
assistance to the homeless.

When we count the Carnival for Cooper Street in the very beginning, over the past nine years we have raised a total of
$303,700 for our children of Charlotte County. We are exceedingly happy and proud of this total. Many volunteers helped
in countless ways to help us reach such an amount. Let’s be very proud of these Punta Gorda Priceless Persons who
might have made phone calls, stood
in homes, organized our programs or
done countless other tasks. You know
who you are and what you have done
to make Charlotte County a better
place. We look forward to completing
our tenth year of fundraising for the
children.

Overall, the total that we have given
out to all of our various nonprofits is
$328,086. This figure includes not
only our kids but our Peace River
Wildlife Center and the Charlotte
County Homeless Coalition. In future
editions of The Commentator, we will
highlight some of the reasons why we
choose particular nonprofits.

Share the Love for the Kids Home Tour: Last month we reported in The
Commentator that we took in $45,000 for the 2018 Share the Love for the
Kids Home Tour. Since last month’s article, we are pleased to announce
an additional $1,000 came in, making our grand total $46,000 raised for the
children of Charlotte County. We can make a difference in the lives of
children with this money.

We are so pleased to announce that we voted to give 25 percent of our
funds raised from this Home Tour to each of these organizations within
Charlotte County: Crossroads Hope Academy; Back Pack Kidz; and the
Guardian ad Litem Program. The last 25 percent will go to the Charlotte
County Homeless Children.

Please save the date for the eighth Share the Love for the Kids Home Tour
which will be held on February 2, 2019.

Charlotte County Homeless Shelter: Each month we serve dinner to
homeless people. We need volunteers to serve dinner at the CCHC on
Saturday, April 7. Arrive at 4:30 and leave by 6. Contact Ruth Kliment at
kliment2FL@comcast.net or at 941-347-7776 to volunteer. The next dinner
will be on May 5.

Monthly Meeting: Often at our meetings we explore new nonprofits that fit
within our goals and will make best use of our funds. Join Beyond
Ourselves for our monthly meeting on April 18 at 10 a.m. at the PGICA. If
you are new to our community or you are a current member, come hear
about what we do for outreach in our community.

Pictures for The Commentator: If you take any pictures that you would
like us to consider for future articles in The Commentator, please send
them to Sue Kelley at skelley180@aol.com.

7 www.pgica.org