Honoree of Gulfshore Life Men and Women of the year volunteers for STARability

Gulfshore Life has nominated Anne Fleming as one of its Men and Women of the Year for volunteering her time to raise money for a new home store for STARability.

WINK News anchor Lindsey Sablan got the chance to see her in action.

Designer chairs to lamps that are worth $17,000 each.

“This is our brand new home collection for the STARability Foundation,” said Anne Fleming, a volunteer for STARability.

The Home Collection store opened at 41 Home & Garden in the Naples Design District.

“Nothing in here cost us anything, so right away, we’re in the black, and then all of the money goes directly to support the mission of STARability.”

The non-profit STARability serves people 14 and older with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“They call it falling off the cliff because when you leave high school, no services are available in Collier County, and you are just out of luck,” said Fleming.

One of their biggest programs is Trailblazers, which teaches participants vocational skills. This group helps clean the Golisano Children’s Museum.

For Fleming, it’s personal. Her son is part of the community with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD).

“One of the best things about the store is that a lot of the people we serve work here, and so we not only provide funding for the organization but we provide job training,” said Fleming.

Fleming just retired after 11 years as the general manager of Waterside Shops.

“It took me a while to get a grip on the community and to really understand what made it tick, and it kept being reinforced that philanthropy was a huge part of this town,” said Fleming.

Under her direction, waterside partnered with over 10 charities — like STARability — annually.

“We ended up giving away– it was probably an average of around 300,000 a year,” said Fleming.

Fleming is responsible for opening more than 40 new stores, including Apple, Gucci and Louis Vuitton at Waterside.

Her next step is to continue volunteering at that home store, which is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Fleming is considering opening a new beauty business.