A $2,500 donation from the Sarasota nonprofit Designing Women Boutique will benefit two Ukrainian students in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. The money will help cover academic expenses for Halyna Horpynich and Melissa Korolchuk, who fled Ukraine because of the war. They will enroll this fall in the school's graduate program.

The Education Foundation of Sarasota County received the AT&T Full STEAM Ahead for Florida's Future grant. The grant seeks to engage students who may have fallen behind during the pandemic, those in underserved communities and high school students seeking to start STEM careers.

The Gulf Coast Community Foundation's board of directors approved more than $3.3 million in grants last week to support local projects and causes. Grants included $150,000 to fund The Bay Park's Phase 2, $125,000 to Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce's CareerEdge program and $50,000 to Education Foundation of Sarasota County's "Project Wayfinder."

Bank of America awarded $25,000 to The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce's workforce development program CareerEdge. The donation will go toward expanding the organization's Bridges to Careers training program and on-the-job training.

Partners for Green Places, a cross-sector partnership of local organizations including the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Sarasota County government, the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation and more, has supported Harvest House, a local supportive housing provider, in going green. Funding for solar panels on three residential buildings, low-flow shower heads, LED lighting and HV/AC replacement has saved Harvest House $4,400 in electric bills since spring 2021.