By Michael Wynn
Sunshine Ace Hardware has long maintained a core value of “Care for your Neighbor.”
Meanwhile, Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida promotes a tagline that states “Caring people caring for our little people.”
A partnership between our two caring entities is a natural fit.
For years, Sunshine Ace has supported dozens of nonprofit organizations that are the pulse of this community, including Golisano Children’s Hospital through the Lee Health Foundation. Countless children are alive and healthy today because of the world-class treatment and compassionate care they received from the hospital’s first-rate team of doctors, nurses and medical staff.
On Dec. 12, 2019, Lee Health announced that Golisano Children’s Hospital was becoming a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. That meant that all CMN donations collected in Southwest Florida, including Sunshine Ace, would provide direct support that stays right here in Southwest Florida to fund research and training, purchase equipment and pay for uncompensated care.
That same day, Sunshine Ace declared Children’s Miracle Network as its “primary charity partner” for 2020. Our team immediately began developing a series of fundraising initiatives, including multiple “Round Up for the Kids” charitable campaigns, the Blue Bucket Days campaign and a fundraising lunch at the Fifth Annual “Reel in the Sunshine” fishing expo. Our hope was to truly make a difference in the lives of local children and families – our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends and our children’s classmates.
Throughout 2020, even during some very challenging times, Sunshine Ace customers and associates stepped forward to help, like they have for generations. A dime here, a dollar there. By the end of 2020, the result was incredible. Customers at Sunshine Ace Hardware and Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware collectively raised $95,000 to support children’s health care. So many lives will be saved, cancers cured, diseases treated and broken bones fixed through our community’s generosity. Money raised at Sunshine Ace stores in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties supports Golisano Children’s Hospital in Fort Myers, while donations collected in Manatee and Pinellas counties support patients and families at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
We as a community are helping provide lifechanging medical treatments for sick and injured children. We as a community are funding innovative research initiatives and training programs so our children, now and in the future, can receive world-class health care in our own communities. We as a community are ensuring that all children have access to highly trained doctors and nurses, regardless of their family’s ability to pay.
This is why Sunshine Ace has supported Children’s Miracle Network over the years and declared the nonprofit as our “primary charity partner.” It follows a similar move by Ace Hardware at the corporate level. Since Ace Hardware became a Children’s Miracle Network corporate partner in 1991, the company has helped raise more than $122 million for the cause. Imagine all of the children and families who have benefited from this generous support.
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals treat one in 10 children in North America each year. Every day, its network of hospitals treats:
- 16,000 children with trauma
- 935 children with diabetes
- 2,218 children with cancer
- 925 babies in newborn intensive care units
- 2,329 children for surgeries
I was so proud to represent our customers, associates and community in presenting the donations to Golisano Children’s Hospital and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
This is what it means to “Care for your Neighbor.”
About the Author
Michael Wynn is president of Sunshine Ace Hardware, a locally owned company with nine locations in Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Pinellas counties, as well as two Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware stores in Manatee County.
