ABOUT
Blankets & Blessings, Inc was started back in 2012 when 8 year old Will wanted to collect blankets for some of the homeless people he encountered in his community. Along with his parents, Will held his first blanket drive. Since then B&B has continued to grow and in 2015, the local non-profit obtained their 501c3 charitable status.
Now B&B devotes its energy to passionately advocating for the homeless and needy in SW Florida. Locally Blankets and Blessings is a vocal advocate for the hungry and displaced. Our purpose to support those in the need in the community through partner groups and churches who have ongoing homeless outreach efforts.
Blankets & Blessings gathers donated supplies and food items to deliver to the homeless community in Lee County, FL throughout the year.
SOME OF OUR ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
- Gathering supplies for those in need
- Supporting local charities
- Supporting local hunger outreach initiatives
- Distributing blankets on cold nights
- Working with local leaders
- Raising awareness
- Rallying support for individual cases
- Preventing homelessness
SPECIAL PROJECTS
In Charleston Park in East Lee County, residents lack access to safe tap water, a problem more associated with slums in India than a county billed as paradise. Across Lee County, tens of thousands of people rely on wells. Their wells tend to be newer and deeper. They have water treatment like filters or reverse osmosis. But in Charleston Park, many wells are old, as shallow as 20 feet deep, and pull up polluted water containing bacteria and other contaminants.
Unfortunately most of the residents in this area are living below the poverty line and must rely on bottled water for cooking and drinking. To make matters worse, many residents don’t have transportation to get to the closest grocery store that is 8 miles away.
Blankets & Blessings is working in conjunction with Aqua Consultants to sanitize wells and install reverse osmosis systems in the homes there affected by water contamination. In 2017, 5 homes had water systems installed and in 2018 an additional 12 had water systems installed. There are roughly 100 homes in that community.
DONATE
If you would like to make a charitable donation, we gladly accept PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to make the donation. Simply click the PayPal link below to make a safe donation.
If you would rather give charitable items (ie blankets, toiletries) or even your time, we are always looking for volunteers. In kind donations can be dropped off at the Golf & Casual Shop located at 11900 S Cleveland Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33907. Questions about the type of donations we accept? Please get in touch with us today.
Our Team
Kerry Constantine
Co-founder/President
Kerry works full-time as a real estate broker for her company Power Brokers Real Estate, Inc. and devotes a significant amount of personal time taking a lead role in community outreach for the organization.
Tara Geissinger
Co-founder/Vice President
Tara Geissinger and her family have been involved with B&B since 2012. She works full-time as the owner of a local marketing company Radiant Web Marketing and is a talented marketing and public relations professional. Tara takes the lead in our social media programs and handles our marketing campaigns.
Paula Houghton
Board Secretary
Paula is our current board secretary and when she’s not volunteering with B&B she works with husband in their telecommunications company. She says “I love being a part of a team which represents Jesus Christ through our actions. We come alongside others who need a little help, as a way to show that the God of our universe cares about them. SW Florida is my home and its a joy to be part of serving our local brothers and sisters.”
Elizabeth Healy
Board of Directors
Elizabeth works full time as a District Manager for Kowa Pharmaceuticals America. She has been on our Board of Directors since 2015 and is always there to lend a hand where needed.
Jenny Isenhower
Board of Directors
Jenny joined our board in 2015 and is the co-owner of the Golf & Casual Shop in Ft.Myers, along with her husband Mike. Thanks to Jenny, our organization has a convenient drop off for donated items in Lee County, Florida. Because of her efforts B&B has been able to collect hundreds of blankets and other items for distribution.
Melissa Giovanelli
Board of Directors
Melisa joined our board in 2017 and works full time in real estate in addition to working as a member of the Lee County school board. She has an interest in helping to meet the needs of the hundreds of homeless students in our area and help advocate on behalf of their needs as well as the needs of their parents.
Gary & Cathy Smith
Board of Directors
Gary and Cathy are co-pastors at Vineyard Church in Ft.Myers, and two spiritual leaders for Blankets and Blessings. Their wisdom, usually delivered with a wonderful sense of humor, helps guide our organization.
Azil Melton-Malan
Treasurer
Azil joined the board of directors as our Treasurer in 2018 and has been a very active volunteer. We are thankful that she handles all the bookkeeping and state paperwork for Blankets and Blessings to ensure we comply with state and national non-profit regulations. When she's not volunteering Azil works as a Senior Client Manager with Wellspring Associates utilizing nearly two decades of experience in the financial services industry assisting affluent families and family offices. In her current role, Azil works on matters pertaining to estate, charitable and business succession planning. She relies on her extensive experience in client service and process implementation to best serve clients during the Wealth Integration Process™