Purchase Tickets
for the Manatee Madness 2.0 Mardi Gras Party
Your chance to own one of the manatees from Manatee Madness 2.0 and support our cause!
I’m excited to introduce you to Community Housing and Resources (CHR) on Sanibel, although many of you need no introduction as you have supported CHR for many years. CHR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created over 40 years ago to provide affordable housing to those who work on and serve our islands. Today we have 88 homes in our program, 74 rental properties and 14 limited equity ownership houses in eleven locations throughout Sanibel. Our unique properties seamlessly blend into the island vibe! We are consistently at capacity with a waitlist for one-bedroom units for the past five 5 years.
CHR’s staff, volunteer board, and committee members have been diligently looking for available properties to expand our program to meet the increasing need on our islands. We have received a land donation from Bailey’s General Store that will allow CHR to build additional homes which are desperately needed here. We are in the initial phase of our expansion campaign, and CHR will soon be able to help more island families.
We can only do what we do with your help. CHR depends on fundraising, donations, and community support for over 40% of the annual operating budget needed to provide affordable housing. CHR accepts direct and legacy donations, and your donations are tax deductible. In addition, we accept appliances and furniture donations.
We also have a program called Give Back Wednesday (GBW), where we partner with local businesses on a specific Wednesday, and they donate 20% of that day’s proceeds to CHR. Please see our list of participating GBW dates and businesses on page 7 of this booklet.
Our annual fundraiser this year is “Manatee Madness 2.0.” Please take some time to read about our fabulous artists and the generous sponsors who help make this possible. Enjoy finding all our manatees while you travel around the island with the help of our centerfold map. Take a selfie with each of our 24 manatees and submit it to CHR via Instagram or Facebook @ SanibelCHR for a fun chance to win a Manatee Madness 2.0 t-shirt. You will also have a chance to take home one of these beautiful works of art through our Manatee Madness Auction and grand finale celebration on April 1st at MudBugs Cajun Kitchen Restaurant.
For more information about CHR, our expansion campaign, and the Manatee Madness 2.0 fundraiser, please visit SanibelCHR.org.
As always, I can’t thank you enough for all your support over the years. It is an honor to manage an organization that is so vital to our island community.
Melissa Rice
CHR Executive Director
