The Kiwanis Club of Greater Pine Island recently held their annual event “Casino Night at the Tarpon Lodge” to raise money and awareness for the Community Learning Center programs at the Beacon of HOPE.
The event is a night filled with fine food, casino style gambling and live and silent auctions. 100% of the profits raised go directly to the CLC programs which include Students Achieving Success (SAS), Pine Island Teens Succeed (PITS), English as a second language, and the Chrissy Frahm GED program. CLC is an incredible asset to our community and our children. It has expanded and adapted to fit the needs of our island and Kiwanis is honored to help it do just that.

This year’s top auction items included a privately catered dinner for 8 from
Chris Capone, owner of Little Lilly’s Island Deli and a Painting Out Loud with Leoma Lovegrove; a Private Art Extravaganza Experience, courtesy of Leoma Lovegrove herself. Father Ryan Wright, of the St. Johns Episcopal Church, threw a new twist in this year by agreeing to match up to $1,000
worth of donations which was met within seconds! Thanks to all of our donor’s exceptional generosity, this event was able to raise $12,000 for a true and worthy Pine Island cause.

Brian Faulkner, President of Kiwanis Club of Greater Pine Island