Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center

Firsthand encounters with natural areas can help children foster a better understanding of our ecosystems and develop a caring attitude related to protecting these precious natural resources. The Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center offers education and field expeditions to students in Charlotte County.

Students first study a curriculum-based booklet about land and water in Southwest Florida in the classroom with their teacher. They then get to apply this new knowledge during a hands-on environmental field trip.

Suncoast Credit Union Foundation donated funds to the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center to help provide students in Charlotte County with the opportunity to learn about the ecosystem in-person.

Citrus County YMCA Teen Center

The YMCA has offered programs in Citrus County since 2008, but they didn’t have a building of their own until 2016. The new facility includes a family pool, an eight-lane pool and a health and wellness center.

The new Citrus County YMCA also has a Teen Center, thanks to a grant from the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. The Teen Center will help support programs for students, like Youth in Government and Youth Leadership Citrus.

Meals of Hope

Meals of Hope, an organization that helps provide nutrition and comfort to the needy, is committed to the children of Collier County. Through their Hello Hope project, they work to provide food to Collier County families who struggle with food insecurity.

Thanks to a grant from the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation, a mobile pantry stocked with food came to East Naples every week for 10 weeks. On average, more than 100 families per week (including 200 children) can receive food through each mobile pantry event.

Robotics Competition

Desoto County High School students are loving robotics! Their robotics club has doubled in size from last year, so they were able to create two robotics teams for competition.

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to support the robotics club with a grant in 2016. Programs like this greatly improve students' engagement with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. The hands-on experience of learning to design, build and program robots can boost students' teamwork and problem-solving abilities. We are proud to help the students experience something that will help them learn how these concepts work in the real world.

Suncoast Credit Union Scholars

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation awarded $2,000 scholarships to two high school seniors in Dixie County as part of the Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program. We are proud to support public education and help future generations achieve their goals.

Suncoast Credit Union Scholars

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation awarded $2,000 scholarships to two high school seniors in Gilchrist County as part of the Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program. We are proud to support public education and help future generations achieve their goals.

Growing STEM Innovators

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education is essential for students. Hands-on activities can help get students interested in STEM. The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to support the Glades Education Foundation’s Growing STEM Innovators: One Node at a Time project with a grant to assist students in Glades County.

This grant helped students participate in various STEM projects, like growing plants in the classroom or building their own structures to learn engineering. Students love the interactive learning, and we love seeing them excited to learn!

3rd Annual TechKnow Robotics Camp

Everything is more exciting with a robot! The Hardee County 4H and Hardee High School’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program partnered with TechKnow Clubs of America to hold the 3rd Annual TechKnow Robotics Camp.

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to sponsor the robotics camp and see all that the students learned. They got the chance to build and program the robots, then take the robots through different challenges. At the end of camp, there was a robotics competition so the students could showcase all of their accomplishments.

Unlock the Secrets of Coding

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation helped Hendry District Schools gain vital skills for the future through funding the Unlock the Secrets of Coding program. These funds have helped the school district provide mobile science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) labs that teach computer coding through technology like Dot and Dash robots and iPads.

When students get hands-on experience with this technology, it can help drive interest in STEM and increase their skills. We love helping students thrive!

Tools 4 Schools Teacher Store

To ensure that students have all the tools they need to succeed, teachers often have to use their own money to purchase school supplies for their classrooms. The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to help sponsor the Tools 4 Schools Teacher Store so that teachers of Hernando Public Schools can get free school supplies.

The Hernando County Education Foundation and the Hernando County School District worked together to open the store. Teachers can visit the store once a month to help stock up on essentials without paying out of their own pockets.

Lounging into Literacy: Tales from the Couch

The ultimate goal of the Lounging into Literacy: Tales from the Couch program is to help preschoolers with special needs develop a love of reading. They do this by creating cozy reading nooks with comfy couches, audiobooks and portable CD players so that students are enticed to want to read.

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to offer funding to create independent lifelong readers through this program. Hearing the stories read aloud helps children learn about the construction of language while increasing their vocabulary and knowledge of the world.

The Emergency Care Help Organization

Each year, the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) provides more than 7,000 children in Eastern Hillsborough County with emergency food and clothing, most of which has been donated by the community.

Before school begins, new shoes and school supplies are in high demand and are often not readily available. The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation provided ECHO with a grant to give 250 children in need a new pair of shoes along with socks, school supplies and other necessities.

Suncoast Credit Union Little-ton of Fun Playground

To help give students at Littleton Elementary School a safe place to be active and healthy, the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was pleased to offer funds to create a new playground. The Suncoast Credit Union Little-ton of Fun Playground offers interactive, outdoor play and a learning area to stimulate the students in a fun way.

The playground makes the students happy, and that truly warms our hearts!

Grants for Great Ideas Program

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation provided the Levy County Schools Foundation with a grant to help fund their Grants for Great Ideas program. Our funding went to give Joyce Bullock Elementary School 12 Chromebook computers for their library.

This project gives students the chance to learn digital media and lets them pursue independent study in math, reading and research.

Reader’s Book Buddies

Since reading is such an important part of a child’s education, the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to sponsor the book buddy program for elementary school readers in Manatee County.

This program partners strong readers with readers who are having trouble. These book buddies meet multiple times a week to take turns reading to each other, discussing what they’ve read and writing responses to it. Suncoast is happy to support a program that both helps and empowers students while improving literacy.

Suncoast Credit Union Scholars

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation awarded $2,000 scholarships to two high school seniors in Marion County as part of the Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program. We are proud to support public education and help future generations achieve their goals.

Royal Robotics Team

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education can help open up future opportunities for students. That’s why the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation partnered with the Pasco Education Foundation to send the Royal Robotics Team from the River Ridge High School Academy of Engineering to compete against competitors from throughout the world in a regional robotics competition.

Our funding helped provide the students with the programming material and resources they needed to build specialized robots to compete.

Reading with the Rays

Suncoast Credit Union is proud to partner with the Rays Baseball Foundation for Reading with the Rays, a program that keep kids reading all summer long. During the summer, kids can pick up their game card at their local library. Then they can check out some of their favorite books and start reading! The goal is to complete 24 total hours of reading.

Students use a game card to track hours and collect prizes, with two tickets to a Tampa Bay Rays game as the grand prize for students who read 24 hours during the program. In 2016, we had more than 37,000 participants from nine of the counties we serve. That’s more than 150,000 total hours of reading in one summer! More than 7,600 fans were able to experience a Rays game for free thanks to the program.

Suncoast Credit Union Scholars

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation awarded $2,000 scholarships to two high school seniors in Polk County as part of the Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program. It is a joy to help students create a brighter future through our support of public education.

Cosmic Contractions, Prefix Pitfalls and Spin and Win Synonym

Learning is so much fun when it’s interactive! That’s why the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation was proud to offer a grant to Gulf Gate Elementary School to help teach grammar in the classroom. The grant funded the Cosmic Contractions, Prefix Pitfalls and Spin and Win Synonym projects to let students learn grammar in an engaging way.

Mini-Math Grant

Students may not realize how much the study of math can be applied to things they love. When the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation awarded a Mini-Math Grant to Sumter County, students from Webster Elementary got to learn how math can be used to create a playground. Each student had the opportunity to design and create an individual 3-D playground display.

Incorporating math curriculum in fun, interactive activities helped students get engaged with their studies and develop their interests in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.