Photo courtesy of DreamLarge.

Bcorp DreamLarge recently hosted a Thank You Party in its Rosemary District yard in lieu of its first successful DreamLarge Weekends. The celebration gathered back the alumni of students, volunteer mentors and the six local nonprofits apart in the first DreamLarge Weekends philanthropic challenge. The After Party continued on building the bonds and relationships that manifested between the young changemakers, their mentors and nonprofit representatives from the October 11-13 weekender initiative, while DreamLarge also took the opportunity to specially honor students with certificates and awards. Geier’s Sausage Kitchen donated hamburgers, hotdogs and brats to the party for a good ol’ fashion cookout, while a headshot station was set-up for the students to show the importance of resume building, among other exciting and fun activities.

“The collective impact these students have on our community is inspiring. Before our eyes, they’ve developed into the true changemakers in our community," said Julia Groom, DreamLarge. "Over the course of one weekend, they’ve managed to do what so many of us can’t, redefining the future of our community in the process."

Additionally, private philanthropists and friends of DreamLarge generously donated $7,500 to the program nonprofits, in which DreamLarge matched for a grand total of $15,000. The evening culminated in check presentations to winning organizations, Embracing Our Differences, SaraSolo Productions, and Urbanite Theatre. This served as an opportunity for students to give back to their community, providing not just a solution to challenges, but also a tangible sum of money that will have a direct positive impact on the organizations they are most passionate about. 

"SaraSolo Productions was thrilled to be apart of this wonderful weekend of students focussed on solving concerns with non-profits in Sarasota," says Ann Morrison. "SaraSolo is a theatre company nurturing solo theatre artists and we are always looking for collaborations with other organizations to create their unique voice with our community. We were thrilled the 'Dark Horse' team came up with the idea of bridging us with Embracing Our Differences. The team asked us to come in and give a crash course on acting that was so much fun! I hope we can get the Dark Horse team to create a solo piece on their own stimulated by Embracing Our Differences art submissions on bullying."

More details on the winning teams and their solutions to the philanthropic challenges they were presented with by local nonprofits can be found here. 

DreamLarge Weekends, reigniting creativity and innovation in Sarasota County students, was sponsored by Gulf Coast Community Foundation and SRQ MEDIA, and was hosted by the Ringling College of Art + Design. 

Photo courtesy of DreamLarge.