Yucatan Restaurant helps make FISH Basket Brigade a success
BY MEGHAN BRADBURY
news@breezenewspapers.com
The single largest donation Pine Island FISH received this year for its Basket Brigade program of toys came from the Yucatan Restaurant in Matlacha, resulting in at least 150 new toys.
“There is one person, the bartender, Craig, he is the spearhead of the whole program,” FISH president Guy Vaughan said, adding that he keeps everyone interested. “This year he was very successful.”
In addition to Yucatan Restaurant, FISH (Fellow Islanders Sending Help) also receives donations from various churches, organizations and other restaurants.
“This donation is one of the largest ones,” he said of Yucatan. “The donations covered the entire backend (of the restaurant).”
The donations ranged from bicycles to books and everything in between.
“You can’t imagine. This restaurant does a tremendous job. Craig is the real driving force behind it,” Vaughan said.
The Basket Brigade is offered for Pine Island families with children up to 18 years old who need a little help in providing a merry holiday. Vaughan said the Basket Brigade is solely responsible for children and families that signed up for a Christmas they wouldn’t otherwise have.
“Everybody works incredibly hard to support this. Our people at FISH, we coordinate it … the people on the island are incredibly generous and loving,” he said. “I have been with FISH for five years. I am constantly awed by the amount of support and the kind of support coming to us at all times of the year. There is so much good in people. People on Pine Island are a very special breed and they continue to support their own unbelievably in every way.”
This year there were around 270 children, 115 to 120 families that received gifts on Dec. 18, at Pine Island United Methodist Church. Gifts were provided for every age from infants to 18. FISH helped more children this year than the previous year.
Vaughan said every year people adopt more children through different organizations on the island
“We never know how many children it’s going to be. That is the beauty of it. No matter what it has been, we have been able to meet those challenges. We buy things on our own, but we depend upon these donations, just as we do for anything we do,” he said.”
The toys collected were all taken to a staging area where they were assembled into specific age groups. If they know the child’s specific needs and wants, they will put it together, otherwise they are put together based on age.
Each child received several toys, as well as the family receiving something. Older children received a gift card. In addition, cookies, stockings and food from the Pine Island Food Pantry were also provided.
“It’s such a wonderful thing. When you see these kids, many would not have had this opportunity,” Vaughan said. “We do it again in the fall for back to school where we give kids a couple of new outfits and a voucher for tennis shoes.”
FISH helps the island in a variety of other ways as well. Vaughan said right now they are busy with non-emergency transportation to medical and dental visits, to the pharmacy and the hospital for their clients.
In addition, this year they have loaned a lot of mobility equipment to folks, as many are doing elective surgeries this year.
“We have been blessed to have the equipment and able to reach out and give to quite a few people,” he said.
FISH also provides emergency financial assistance for eclectic, water and rent on a short-term basis, respite relief to non-paid primary caregivers and In-Touch, connecting with homebound individual either with home visits or phone calls.
Although FISH had to reduce some of the services it normally provides due to safety and health concerns related to COVID, the organization is back to providing all of its face-to-face services again.
With the vast array of services, FISH is always in need of volunteers, which can range anywhere from one day a month to every day, depending on someone’s availability. Individuals can find more information at www.PineIslandFISH.org, or call 239-283-4442.
With more people volunteering and donating, Vaughan said they can make their services more valuable to people on the island.