FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 21, 2015) – Scanlon Auto Group has committed to a two-year title sponsorship for the Taste of the Town in honor of the Junior League of Fort Myers’ 50th Anniversary calendar year spanning June 2015 to May 2016.
The Junior League’s Taste of the Town is Southwest Florida’s original “taste” event and one of the largest outdoor food and entertainment festivals. The 2014 event attracted nearly 15,000 attendees.
“Scanlon Auto has always supported a wide variety of charitable endeavors and community events,” said Jay Scanlon, president of Scanlon Auto Group. “The Junior League has done tremendous charitable work for our community during the past 50 years, and we are proud to support the organization in its ongoing efforts to develop civic leaders, and provide relevant programs and initiatives to improve lives.”
The Scanlon family has been operating car dealerships in Southwest Florida since 1980. Today, Scanlon Auto Group includes Scanlon Lexus and Scanlon Acura, both located south on U.S. 41 in Fort Myers.
“We are so thankful to this community that has supported our work for the past 50 years and to businesses like Scanlon Auto for recognizing the efforts of our members,” said Danielle Lucht, incoming president of the Junior League of Fort Myers.
The Junior League was founded in 1901 by social activist Mary Harriman and has evolved into one of the oldest, largest and most effective women’s volunteer organizations in the world, encompassing 150,000 women in 292 Leagues in four countries.
Since 1966, the Junior League of Fort Myers, Inc. has contributed more than one million volunteer hours to community projects and programs. Its major contributions to Southwest Florida include founding the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, the Volunteer Service Bureau – Volunteer Action Center – now known as Volunteer Center, Teen Court and the Women’s Resource Center. It has also been active in feeding the hungry in the five-county area through the food drive at the annual Taste of the Town, mentoring teenage girls in foster care, supporting self defense for women, preparing women to re-enter the workforce, creating a listening library for cancer patients, preserving historic architecture, supporting the Ronald McDonald House, distributing holiday food baskets, organizing holiday gift drives, providing gender-specific programming to teenage girls in juvenile justice, supplying backpacks to children in Harlem Heights Community and more.
This year’s Taste of the Town event will once again be held at JetBlue Park, the Boston Red Sox’s 106-acre Spring Training and Player Development Complex, located at 11500 Fenway South Drive in Fort Myers on Sunday, Nov. 1.
Funds from this one-day annual event benefit the JLFM, whose volunteer mission provides thousands of dollars annually in volunteer services and donations to programs supporting women and children in the region including the Junior League’s national program Kids in the Kitchen to help fight childhood obesity, the ongoing work with at-risk girls in the juvenile justice system, as well as work throughout the community in partnership with many organizations through the League’s Helping Hands program, which provides volunteer woman-power to organizations.
Scanlon Auto Group supports a number of charitable events and organizations through monetary support and materials including vehicles for golf tournaments, parades and races. Annually, Scanlon Auto donates more than $100,000 locally. As a Lexus dealer, it provides support through various corporate programs including The Lexus Pursuit of Potential, Dealer Matching Funds, the Lexus Eco Challenge, Champions for Charity golf events and more. In addition to being major sponsors of the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, Scanlon Auto is also a major contributor to The United Way of Lee County, Arts for ACT, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lee County, the Harry Chapin Food Bank and many other organizations that support the people and the arts in our area.
A member of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc., the Junior League of Fort Myers, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization made up of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The JLFM is also a granting organization, providing mini-grants to organizations throughout Southwest Florida’s five-county area to programs that create better life outcomes for our area’s youth. JLFM memberships are open to all women aged 21 and older of all races, religions and national origin who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism.
Additional sponsorships of the 50th Anniversary are available. For more information, call 239-277-1197 or visit www.jlfm.org.
