Community involvement and financial support are essential to our S.M.A.R.T. program. All gifts made to S.M.A.R.T. are tax deductible and are greatly appreciated! We thank all of the individuals, civic organizations, corporations and foundations that care about our S.M.A.R.T. Riders and our program.
GRATEFUL does not begin to describe how THRILLED we are for our new COVERED ARENA! It makes such a difference every day to have it available for our S.M.A.R.T. riders and programs that included Summer Boot Camp!
Our dream came true thanks to the major donors who made this happen! They include The Second Chance Foundation (Bruce & Peaches Conley), The Green Family Foundation (Ingrid & Tommy Green), The Lightning Foundation, Inc. and the Vinik Family Foundation, the Spadaccia Family Charitable Fund, Debbie & Scott Sanford and TECO Energy.
We are so grateful to the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation for the $34,550 grant to support our Therapeutic Carriage Driving program.
“Carriage driving/riding opens up the world of horses to those who may be unable to participate in other programming.”
Thank you for recognizing the benefits of this important therapeutic activity! We are so proud to have your support!
Thank you, Phyllis Siskel, for your awesome support over the many years!! You have been such a wonderful friend to all of us at SMART and we love you! Your generosity overwhelms us–as does your kind and loving spirit. Thanks for making such a difference in so many lives! Phyllis has “named” our Tack Room and Norman’s stall, provided funding for our new Freedom Bridge and pressure washer, sponsored many of our Warriors In Transition workshops AND been our Literacy “book benefactor”, and provided our final funds for our Sensory Therapy Garden (not to mention all those bags of carrots she brings!!!)
A very special THANK YOU to the Bank of America Client Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee for the grant of $11,200! These funds will support S.M.A.R.T.’s Therapeutic Riding and Equine Assisted Activities for children with autism. We are truly GRATEFUL for the long-time support we have received from this foundation, along with the difference this funding has made in SO many of our S.M.A.R.T. Rider’s lives. Thank You!!
Thank you to the Bill and Maryann Vinall Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation for the matching grant in the amount of $15,000 for lighting and electrical work for the covered arena! We are so grateful for your support!
Thank you Lakewood Ranch Women’s Club for your continued support of our S.M.A.R.T. Riders! The wonderful women of LWRWC presented S.M.A.R.T. with a check for $15,265 this year. They continue to be one of our staunchest supporters and truly make a difference in our program and in the lives of our kids with special needs. THANK YOU Lakewood Ranch Women’s Club!
A special THANK YOU to the Spadaccia Family Charitable Fund (Bob & Sue Spadaccia) who presented S.M.A.R.T. with a grant of $25,000 in honor of our awesome volunteer, Candi Russell. This grant was used specifically for the Covered Arena Project. We are so grateful to the Spadaccia’s who continually support S.M.A.R.T. in so many ways.
THANK YOU to longtime S.M.A.R.T. friend and supporter, Dale High, and new friend, Jon Kleiber (Regional Manager of HIGH Associates, Ltd.) who presented SMART with a check for $20,000 from the S. Dale High Family Foundation that was used for our Covered Arena Project. We appreciate your ongoing generosity and support of S.M.A.R.T.!
Special thanks to the Cassidy Family Foundation Fund of the Manatee Community Fund. Their support of our program over the years has been incredible! We TRULY LOVE the addition of Buddy Cassidy, a new therapy horse in our S.M.A.R.T. family who started helping our participants as soon as he arrived in the barn! In addition, there have been horse adoptions (Jazz and Carly), rider scholarship support, naming rights on one of our stalls in the main barn, event support and annual support for covering our veterinary expenses. We just can’t THANK YOU enough!!
The Tampa Bay Lightning honored Gail Clifton as the 291st Lightning Community Hero on Dec. 29, 2017. Gail received a $50,000 donation from The Lightning Foundation, Inc. and the Vinik Family Foundation. Gail chose to donate the funds to S.M.A.R.T. for their Covered Arena Project. Pictured are Chris Kunitz, Gail and Steve Griggs, CEO.
Congratulations and THANK YOU, Gail, for helping to make S.M..A.R.T.’s covered arena dream come true!
Continual thanks go out to Bruce and Peaches Conley, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and the Second Chance Foundation for their amazingly generous support of our program! Our success is largely due to your belief in us!
Special thanks to the Green Family Foundation for being such wonderful supporters of S.M.A.R.T., in so many ways, for many, many years. Your ongoing, unrestricted support of our program, as well as support for our events and programs, has made such a difference in so many lives! Thank you!
HUGE thanks to Volunteer Brie Schwartz and her dad, Dan, for choosing S.M.A.R.T. to be the beneficiary of the 50K grant from the Freda G. Sheppard Charitable Foundation! These funds have created the Freda G. Sheppard Driving Sensory Trail—which with Brie’s design–is the most awesome driving sensory trail ever!!
Thank you to the S.Dale High Family Foundation for their wonderful gift of $40,000 for the naming of our 4 Stall Barn. We are so excited to be able to call this barn the High Barn! We are so honored to receive this support from all of you and can’t thank you enough!
Thank you to Jane Drake for the generous support given to S.M.A.R.T. by “naming” our Pavilion in loving memory of her mom and dad, Dr. John and Iris Storaasli. We love the quote: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchhill
