Sun-N-Fun Resort and Campground - Sarasota, Florida
Community Support
We reach out to support both the local and global community in many ways. We were inspired by a group of our vacation homeowners a decade ago to develop a philosophy of "looking after people, animals and the environment, locally and globally" after they raised the funds to train and support a guide dog for the blind.
That philosophy has taken root at Sun-N-Fun and now many of our residents, guests and team members volunteer their time to help a wide ranging number of programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Coastal Clean-up program, the Boys and Girls Club, Southeast Guide Dogs, Relay for Life, Women Helping Women, and Haiti Relief, to name but a few.
If you have a skill, interest, or just some time to contribute and would like to participate in a program, stop in at the Lifestyle Center and we'll be happy to help you get started. The rewards are immeasurable.
As part of the Royalty Resorts family, we consider it an honor to regularly host events and contribute to worthy local and global organizations, and we would be happy to consider your request. Please submit it in writing at least eight weeks in advance.
Let us know the date, provide a description and inform us of your fundraising goals. Be sure to include a contact name, phone number and email address. We will certainly give it careful consideration, but due to the large number of requests we receive we are, regretfully, unable to help as many as we might like.
Sun-N-Fun
Supports Sarasota and Booker high school athletics programs, Children's Charity Fund and a group of our winter residents deliver Meals on Wheels. We also donate silent auction items to numerous schools and charitable causes. All resort and winter guests actively participate in the local recycling program.
Team Volunteer Hours
Annually the team at Sun-N-Fun donates over 1,000 man hours volunteering at the big annual events like: Racing Dog Rescue annual picnic, 9-1-1 Open House and YMCA healthy kid’s day, Alpha Phi Alpha Scholarship reception, Big Brothers Big Sisters Christmas event and back to school picnic, Pink Heals Tour breakfast, Relay for Life Rally, Sarasota County events, The Pal half Marathon and the Sarasota Springfest.
9-1-1 Open House and YMCA Healthy Kids Day
Sun-N-Fun donates prizes and time to this great event. Team members and residents volunteer their time to help set up and run the annual 911 Open House and YMCA Healthy Kids Day. This is a free family health and safety event which encourages children and families to adopt behaviors that support a healthy lifestyle. We plan on participating in this great event every year.
Pink Heals Tour
The Pink Heals Tour brings Love & Hope to communities around the country in the form of Pink Fire Trucks. Sun-N-Fun hosts 5 Pink Fire Truck drivers as guests of the resort for two nights and held a breakfast buffet in their honor. The teams all wear pink heals tee-shirts and we have the shirts for resale. The proceeds from these shirts help with the gas and expenses of the tour. Last year we raised enough for the organization to purchase another fire truck which will be named after a local cancer survivor. This year we look forward to welcoming the tour on October 4th.
Racing Dog Rescue Project
Sun-N-Fun is proud to sponsor the annual Greyhound Picnic for the Racing Dog Rescue Project donating our facilities and team to assist with fundraising. The organization also uses our facilities for meetings throughout the year.
Big Brothers & Sisters
The resort sponsors an Angel Tree every December to collect gifts for needy local children and donates Woodland Hall for their annual Christmas party. One of our team members is a Firefighter and he donates his time to drive Santa to the hall in the Sarasota Fire Fighters Benevolent Fund antique fire truck. The summer of 2011 we hosted a back to school pool party for over 200 Bigs and Littles.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Scholarship Foundation
The Alpha Phi Alpha Foundation of Manasota is dedicated to providing academic scholarships to ten deserving students of the Greater Sarasota/Bradenton School system. Sun-N-Fun donates silent auction items for their annual golf tournament and host their scholarship recognition reception for the young men and their families in our large banquet hall.
Relay For Life
The Sun-N-Fun residents and team participate in the annual 24 hour relay for life. Every year our residents raise 1000's of dollars for ACS. Last year we raised $33,000, the most monies raised by a private organization in Sarasota County. Sun-N-Fun also held a fundraiser cookout for a local teenage boy who is a leukemia survivor.
Sarasota County
Sun-N-Fun gets involved in numerous Sarasota County events. Recently we hosted the ribbon cutting for the opening of Fruitville Road, providing brunch for the County Commissioners and dignitaries. Sun-N-Fun also donated food, refreshments, tables and chairs for the grand opening of the Celery Fields. Our team volunteers their time at these events.
PAL half marathon
Sun-N-Fun team members and residents volunteered for the first PAL half marathon in November 2010. We were course marshals and cheerleaders for the runners. We look forward to volunteering this coming November
Public Service Heroes
Sun-N-fun donates Summer Family Pool passes to our local police, sheriff and fire departments. We also deliver Christmas hampers to our local station 9 and 10.
Sun-N-Fun Event Facilities and rooms
Sun-N-Fun donates Woodland Hall and our other facilities to numerous organizations throughout the year for fundraising events. We also loan our tables and chairs to local businesses for their events to help with costs.
All Faiths Food Bank
At Sun-N-Fun we collect food for our local food bank year round. Volunteers also hold 3 large donation days during the winter season. We produced a cook book with recipes from residents and raised $1700 from the sale of the cook book.
Sarasota Springfest
Sun-N-Fun volunteer for the Springfest Road Race Benefiting the Youth Programs of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. We cheer on the racers and then help out at the fun family event in Palmer Ranch.
Southeastern Guide Dogs
A large group of our winter residents conduct several fundraisers throughout the year to sponsor the training of individual guide dogs. The guide dogs sponsored so far are Sunny, Casey and Rosie. We do not yet know the name of our dog for 2010.
Frankie’s friends charitable pet foundation
Sun-N-Fun has pet grooming companies come in to the resort and use our pet washes. 25% of proceeds are donated to Frankie’s friends which funds free or heavily discounted treatment for qualifying pets with canine lymphoma, the most common canine cancer. No qualifying pet will be denied treatment because of a family’s inability to pay.
Earth Day
On April 22nd, every year the residents and team at Sun-N-Fun join the more than one billion people in 190 countries that are taking action for Earth Day. Although we say “every day is Earth day at Sun-N-Fun” we really focus on education and events to make our community and the world cleaner and more sustainable on Earth Day. Our next big project of a health and wellbeing center will be a green building.
Hearts Without Borders
For many years we have donated new and gently used uniform shirts and tees to this organization. The clothing is distributed in Mexico to different ministry locations.
Circus Sarasota
Our annual in-kind support of over $2,000 worth of rental space and kitchen use helps Circus Sarasota keep enriching, educating and entertaining "children of all ages" throughout the community.
Florida Sheriff's Association
Sun-N-Fun supports the Florida Sheriff's Association in their efforts to provide quality professional law enforcement to the citizens of Florida.
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
Sun-N-Fun team members and guests participate annually in the local Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk and fundraiser. Sun-N-Fun also holds wellness classes for breast cancer awareness.
Habitat For Humanity
Numerous Sun-N-Fun volunteers work side-by-side with new homeowners to build houses in Sarasota. Sun-N-Fun provides snacks for the volunteers working this worthy cause.
March of Dimes
In addition to fundraising by our volunteers, Sun-N-Fun donates cell phones for the Recellular pgoram.
Humane Society of Sarasota County, Inc.
Sun-N-Fun donates proceeds from Pet washes throughout the season and teams with the residents to donate much needed supplies.
BIG CAT HABITAT AND GULF COAST SANCTUARY
is a non-profit safe haven for big cats, bears, and other animals in need. Founded by Kay Rosaire who has 30 years of experience working with and caring for exotic animals, she began rescuing big cats in 1987. Their goal is to educate the public by fostering appreciation for animals and stressing the importance of habitat preservation..Sun-N-Fun works closely with this local non-profit organization to assist them with marketing and fund raising to help support their habitat.
Keep America Beautiful
Our team participates in "Earth Day Clean Up" once a month throughout the resort as well as annually by spending a day cleaning up local beaches.
ShelterBox
Sun-N-Fun held a dinner to raise funds for a ShelterBox for the victims in Haiti. The corporation matched what we raised so we were able to purchase a $1,000 shelterbox which supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and essential equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide.
Saving Lily's Eyes
Lilly Murphy, a fifth generation, 11 month old Sarasotan, was diagnosed with a Retinoblastoma, an extremely rare form of cancer, behind both her eyes. Her treatment includes 30 hours of chemotherapy once a month for at least nine months. To help, we donated the use of Woodland Hall and contributed $3000 in donation items that, thanks to the generosity of our guests, residents and the local Sarasota community, raised $15,000 to help with medical costs. Sun-N-Fun also donated $3000 in silent auction items for a function at the Hershberger Property, where Dicky Betts, formerly of the Allman Bros. Band, played. It helped to raise another $50,000.
