SWFL organizations putting donated money to good use

41 Southwest Florida organizations are still in shock about the millions of dollars they received from philanthropist Tom Golisano.

Here on Wink News, we told you we spoke to billionaire philanthropist Tom Golisano about his surprise $85 million donation, which ranged from $150,000 to $10 million per organization.

All 41 organizations can’t wait to put this money to good use.

They said they’re over the moon.

Tom Golisano didn’t just choose these nonprofits at random. He specifically chose groups in areas to which he and his wife have a personal connection. One of those areas, the one made up of nonprofits that help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is a group that has felt forgotten at times in Southwest Florida, but after Tuesday, they feel seen.

Carolyn Johnson, Chief Mission and Development Officer at Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, said, “Just almost felt weak in the knees, and I immediately started shaking, and of course, the tears.”

“It’s really hard to imagine the philanthropy and the heart that goes behind gifts like that,” said Angela Katz, executive director of Larc Inc.

$32 million of that went to organizations supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, like LARC, or Lee Association for Remarkable Citizens and Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, which got $5 million each.

“It’s going to change how our community is able to serve,” said Katz.

They told us that with this money, the opportunities are endless.

“It will help reinforce and be able to open up more doors for us to be able to provide these services that we already do, and hopefully be able to open more doors for individuals who might not have had a chance to participate in our program,” Johnson said.

Services range from teaching participants life and job skills to operating group homes and helping them advocate for themselves.

But for everyone serving the IDD community, it’s about so much more than the money.

“It’s just absolutely remarkable for our population, a population that I think sometimes gets a little lost or forgotten by some foundations or donors,” said Katz.

“It’s definitely shining a light on the idd community, which for too long, it’s just kind of been in the shadows of who it is that we serve,” said Johnson.

And we know the IDD community is certainly close to Golisano’s heart; he told us on Tuesday that he never wanted his son Steven to become a ward of the state, and this money will go a long way in ensuring other families don’t have to live with that fear.