Article and Photos by Larry Oskin
The new South Lake Non-Profit Think Tank was recently launched by Otis Taylor to help unify all local area non-profit agencies and community organizations as well as to personify the pride and community spirit that we have here in Clermont and Central Florida! The New South Lake Non-Profit Think Tank has begun to work together to come up with innovative solutions for operating and funding to help improve and expand the serves and benefits for each of their organizations. This unified Think Tank group will begin to regularly meet together to collaborate with each other for the mutual benefit of our community.
Similar Challenges! With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic challenges, an ongoing lack of funding as well as a need for more sponsors and volunteers, each organization continues to face many of the same problems. By uniting together, they have begun to explore smart common solutions to solve these problems as well as to work to share information on many other important demanding issues like community impact, organizational growth, new services, media exposure, special events and grants.
Sharing Creative Solutions! They have begun to hold cooperative think tank sessions. These open workshops will be held at least 8 to 10 times per year to help solve these common challenges, while working closely with city and county agencies. They also plan to hold a series of educationally-based workshops with the City Council to address issues and concerns that they have and to update the City Council on what the non-profit sector is doing in the community. They will work together to improve their skills with marketing, media exposure, social media, developing a strong website presence and an array of operational issues. They will look for unified solutions to the professional resource challenges of much-needed food banks, affordable housing, financial management, career development, healthcare awareness, cancer treatment services, volunteerism, scholarships, senior citizen programs, youth programming, support for the local arts, healthcare, software development and much more. They have launched a new website, so the public can more easily find all of the available local community resources.
Lincoln Park South Lake Alliance Workshop: The next session will be on Friday, April 9th from 4 to 6 PM with Sharon Keys as the guest speaker. Keys is Director of the new Lincoln Park South Lake Alliance. The Lincoln Park South Lake Alliance is proposing a new Center for Education, Arts and Sports – CEAS, to replace the Clermont Elementary School in 2023. Their mission is focused on building our community through creativity, collaboration and access to life-changing opportunities here in South Lake County. For more information, visit: www.LPSLA.org. This meeting will be held in the second-floor conference room of the Clermont Main Street Bank, located at 1515 East Highway 50, Clermont, FL 34711. Attendance will be limited to the first 35 people who RSVP to register
Participating Members: Kathy Smith of the Community Foundation of South Lake, Renee Lowe of the South Lake Business Leaders, Felicia Stewart of Hope 2 Restoration, Sterling and Bonita Reed of Vibrantek Solutions, Geneva Hamilton of the Caribbean Association, Tim Murry of the Christian Men in Action, Chris Tabone of the First United Methodist Church, Trista Fouts of the Moonlight Players, Lavonte Rogers of the Twilight Theatre, Richard Chapman of Automated Clearing House / Oasis for non-profit compliance services, Lisa Harris of the South Lake League, Larry Oskin of Marketing Solutions, Kay Simpson of the Greater Clermont Cancer Foundation, Barbara Hollander from the City of Clermont, Rena and Johnny Lingo of Better Me-Loving Me-Transforming Me, Shannon Herrera of the Find Feed Restore, Keith Whitacre of South Lake Food Provider, Grace Diaz of Warehouse Empowerment Center, Rocco DeStefano and Justin Nichols of Chick-Fil-A, Pat McMasters of the Clermont Police Department, Jacqui of Splash Social Marketing, Sandra Vela of Serenity Spa & Wellness as well as the SLNPTT founders Otis and Sandra Taylor of the Give A Day Foundation were some of the first participating members. Many other government agencies, businesses, non-profit and charitable organizations are expected to join.
National Council of Non-Profit Notes: Coordinated non-profit impact matters! 92% of all non-profits in the USA are small community-based organizations that serve local needs. Non-profits employ more than 10% of America’s private workforce, which is more than the manufacturing, construction, or financial industries. Less than 3% of non-profits have the ability to lobby to advance their missions, compared to 100% that have the legal right to do so. See: www.councilofnonprofits.org/
Give A Day Foundation, Otis Taylor has made hundreds of volunteers into everyday heroes who help make a difference in our community. The Give A Day Foundation partners with local area non-profit organizations to support seniors, families, teens, children, animal rescue, arts, culture, Special Olympics sports and recreational activities. Its mission is to help our community through volunteerism. They plan to think out of the box as much as possible to help unite our community through their various services.
New SLNPTT Organizations, Volunteers & Donors Welcome: Everyone is invited to become a partner in the new South Lake Non-Profit Think Tank. You can become a volunteer, sponsor, or donor. Those who can make monetary, food, product, or equipment donations will be greatly appreciated. You can donate a gift card, supplies, tools, equipment, and products to help their SLNPTT organizations better achieve their work.
South Lake Non-Profit Think Tank: To learn more about SLNPTT as well as their upcoming meetings and workshops, visit the SLNPTT website at: www.southlakenon-profitthinktank while following them on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/SouthLakeNonProfitThinkTank/. You can visit the Give A Day Foundation website at: www.giveadayfoundation.org. Call 407-864-3303 or email Otis Taylor at: otis@giveadayfoundation.org.
