Fewer than three weeks remain to reserve a seat for the 2022 Brunch on the Bay, the premier fund-raising event at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.
This year’s event — from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6 — will support planning for a new Nursing/STEM building and other exciting initiatives at the Sarasota-Manatee campus, as well as student scholarships.
Attendees at Brunch on the Bay will enjoy fine cuisine prepared by several local restaurants and caterers and students from the campus’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. For more information about tickets and sponsorships for the 2022 Brunch on the Bay, go to sarasotamanatee.usf.edu/brunch
The Nursing/STEM building promises to physically transform the Sarasota-Manatee campus, enrich the campus’s academic offerings for students and faculty and complement wider efforts to address employment needs in the region and beyond.
Karen Holbrook, chancellor of the Sarasota-Manatee campus, said Brunch on the Bay celebrates the powerful, mutually beneficial connection between the campus and the Sarasota-Manatee region, and assures the campus can fulfill its commitment to providing affordable access to the region’s preeminent state research university.
The Nursing/STEM building “will signal students, parents, funding agencies, friends and donors that we are committed to providing a contemporary, high-quality educational experience supporting the community’s demand for more nurses and science and technology graduates with the knowledge and skills needed to enter the talent pipeline,” Holbrook said.
The $61.7 million, 75,000-square-foot Nursing/STEM building will double the size of the Sarasota-Manatee campus’s nursing program; increase new majors in the health disciplines and other programs; and fill the need on campus for teaching and clinical labs and research facilities. The building, which earlier this year received an initial $3 million appropriation from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, is currently in the planning and design stage.
Since 1994, Brunch on the Bay has drawn community supporters to the beautiful grounds of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus on Sarasota Bay. Brunch on the Bay has raised more than $6.1 million, funding more than 1,500 student scholarships.
For more about Brunch on the Bay and plans to expand the Sarasota-Manatee campus, watch this recent interview with Holbrook. Also, read this column.
USF officials are mindful that this year’s Brunch on the Bay comes as parts of the area continues to recover from Hurricane Ian. The storm did not damage the Sarasota-Manatee campus.
"Our students, faculty and staff are volunteering, fundraising and putting forth extra effort to provide critical resources and to help those in need because of the storm,” Holbrook said. “Our sense of gratitude for our good fortune, and for the chance to help those who are hurting, is strong as we look forward to this year’s Brunch on the Bay.”
The USF Federal Credit Union is the title sponsor of the 2022 Brunch on the Bay, and Dr. Mona Jain and her daughter Dr. Anila Jain are the event’s co-chairs.
Drs. Jain are USF alumnae and longtime supporters of the Sarasota-Manatee campus. Anila Jain, a member of the Campus Board, was among the first organizers of Brunch on the Bay.