Dawn-Marie Driscoll, Natasha Verma, Heather Hardy and Dale Reiss
FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 8, 2015) – In partnership with the Fort Myers Film Festival, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation recently hosted a private showing of the film “Hardy” for its Women’s Legacy Fund’s Prima Donors followed by a Q&A with the film’s director and star.
“Hardy,” directed by Natasha Verma, is the story of Heather Hardy, a female boxer who rises above the inequalities in professional boxing and aspires to become a world champion as she struggles to provide a life as a single parent. She is one of two of the first women to box at the famous Barclay Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., cementing her status as a must-see attraction in front of a sold-out crowd. The compelling film goes behind the scenes to reveal the complicated life Heather lives as a single mother pursuing an uphill battle to achieve self respect and make it in a “man’s sport” against the odds.
The showing is one example of an ongoing educational series the Community Foundation is providing for Prima Donors who are local women who have contributed $10,000 or more to the Women’s Legacy Fund endowment and are committed to making an impact in their community through charitable giving.
The WLF also offers a contributor-giving level at $250 a year. The WLF was established in 2007 by the Community Foundation to enable women in Southwest Florida to direct their giving in focused, strategic ways. The Fund’s mission is to engage women in affecting change in our community through collective philanthropy.
As leaders, conveners, grant makers and concierges of philanthropy, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation is a foundation built on community leadership with an inspired history of fostering regional change for the common good in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Community Foundation, founded in 1976, connects donors and their philanthropic aspirations with evolving community needs. With assets of more than $80 million, the Community Foundation has provided more than $60 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. Last year, it granted more than $2.8 million to nonprofit organizations supporting education, animal welfare, arts, healthcare and human services. It also granted $782,000 in nonprofit grants including more than $400,000 in regional community impact grants and additional $450,000 in scholarship grants.
For more information about the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com.
