Flagler County, Fla. (July 8, 2022) – $125,000 is a lot of money. It doesn’t matter how you split hairs.
And at the end of a six hour marathon fundraising effort that’s how much members of Flagler County’s community put toward the Million Dollar Food-a-Thon to benefit the Grace Community Food Pantry.
Coming from every sector and walk of life, donations ranging from $5 to $10,000 were made, all in the name of neighborly charity.
Let’s Get It Started
After a discussion about the needs of the community and the expiration of the tax refund advance payments, coupled with the rising costs of food, fuel and other basic necessities, Flagler Broadcasting’s president and general manager David Ayres suggested a fundraising event to support Flagler County’s largest food pantry, Grace Community Food Pantry.
After consulting with the pantry’s founder, Pastor Charles Silano, the idea took off, and the Million Dollar Food-a-Thon was created.
Setting a hefty goal of $200,000, which translates into more than $1 million dollars of food for the rest of the year for the more than 3,500 Flagler families that visit the pantry each month, the fundraiser was launched community-wide in early June.
July 8, 2022: Today’s The Day
Fast-forward to the big day and guests eagerly headed to the Flagler Broadcasting studios for the food-a-thon, broadcasting live on all four Flagler stations with DJs Laura Z, Kevin Kane, JT, and Tony Mann, kicking off with Friday morning’s Free for All Friday show, led by Ayres.
Switching guest co-hosts throughout the day, Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, Kathy Austrino, Danielle Anderson, Alina Perry-Smith, Ana Reyes-Ouzts, Lacy Martin, Brittany Kershaw, and Pastor Silano helped whip up excitement alongside sales manager Kirk Keller. Keeping the fast-paced flow moving and guests rotating through chairs plugging their businesses, making donations, and sharing stories, the atmosphere of anticipation continued to grow as the hours ticked by.
“I love seeing the community come together like this,” said Austrino, broker owner for TAG Ventures Real Estate and 10 a.m. co-host. “There’s nothing better.”
Bringing the real estate community to the table, Austrino, like many of her colleagues stepped up to make donations. She says the industry is invested in the success of Flagler County.
“They sell this community. They live in this community. They are this community, so they want to see it thrive,” she said.
Large scale donations from major employers and powerhouse fundraisers like the AdventHealth Palm Coast employees, Quantum Electric, Douglas Property & Development, Flagler County Education Foundation, and Flagler County employees helped boost totals at just the right time.
A steady stream of donations flowed in throughout the day from businesses and individuals like the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce, Florida Senator Travis Hutson and Florida House Speaker-designate Paul Renner along with the Professional Women of Flagler County, the Palm Coast Business Professionals and The Boss Ladies.
“This was one of the most powerful and emotional events ever,” said Ana Reyes-Ouzts, co-founder of The Boss Ladies, who helped with co-hosting duties during the 11 o’clock hour.
“To see the community come together was exhilarating. The human nature and good-hearted people are alive and well in Flagler County.”
Sales manager Kirk Keller was part of the event’s initial planning. He had seen the radio-based telethons be successful before, and was anxious to see how Flagler County would respond.
“When we first had a meeting, I thought we’d walk away with maybe $50,000 at the most, but $115,000 plus it’s still coming in,” said Keller with appreciation near the end of the day. “I know Pastor Silano is tickled pink. It’s going to buy more than half a million dollars’ worth of food and that’s going to help a lot of families in this community.”
Keller experienced one of the day’s ‘awww’ moments when one of Flagler County’s youngest residents, the granddaughter of a TAG Ventures Real Estate agent, came in to make her donation.
“My favorite guest was Charlotte, five years old. She came here, proudly handed us a five dollar bill and said it was because she wanted to help other kids in the community,” shared Keller, a grandfather himself.
“How super cool is that? And when Senator Hutson was on the phone and made a $1,000 donation, I told him I hated to say it wasn’t the biggest donation. The biggest donation was a five dollar bill from a five year old girl, and he kind of laughed and said ‘Kirk, you’re 100 percent right’. And that’s what it takes – those $5, $25. The $5,000 and $10,000 challenges really did help, but that five dollar bill probably touched more hearts than anything else.”
Reflections: The Wrap Up
As weeks of work came to a close, Pastor Silano was awestruck by the generosity of the community toward their neighbors as totals were calculated.
“Actually, I didn’t know what to expect,” said Pastor Silano. “I thought it was a lofty goal, but I thought it was attainable. I’m so happy for the way it turned out. There’s probably going to be residual donations because of this. Not only that, we garnered volunteers, heard great stories. It’s one of the best days of my life.”
Paired with the pantry’s current budget, the $125,000 raised will help with the upcoming holiday season and immediate needs of Flagler’s families.
“It’s just amazing. This is going to be huge. We can actually plan, going forward and stock up.”
Working the phones up until the last few moments, Mayor Alfin was proud of the day’s efforts.
“Today’s so important because it shows the community can come together. A big community can act as a village,” said Mayor Alfin. “We can take care of each other and make a difference for the future. This is the best place to live in all of Florida.”
When the final tally was completed, Ayres was happy with the results.
“Today was an amazing six hours of watching and listening to hundreds of people, businesses, organizations and other charities who came out and called in to Flagler Radio stations to help people in our community who need us the most,” said Ayres.
“While we didn’t get to $1 million in food, we did get to $675,000 worth of food that will guarantee families in Flagler County will have food on the table for months to come. Thank you to everybody for such a memorable, heartwarming day.”
Contributions are still being accepted at www.GraceCommunityFoodPantry.com
