Community Foundation awards nearly $50,000 in hardship grants to water-based businesses
Two forces have collided to tank Bill D'Antuono’s business as a guide for offshore scuba divers in Collier County.
This time of year normally offers the best visibility for scuba diving, but that has imploded against red tide and the algae bloom to kill business.
“My phone calls have dropped 100 percent,” said D'Antuono, 32, owner of Offshore Naples Fish & Dive Charters. “It’s been tough. It’s dive season right now, and I should be running trips all September.”
D'Antuono is grateful for a $2,000 hardship grant from the Community Foundation of Collier County, which established a fund in mid-August to help small water-based businesses survive against losses due to the noxious smell and massive fish kill along coastal Southwest Florida.
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The Community Foundation created the $50,000 “Care for Collier” fund to provide grants to charter boat captains, water tour operators, canoe and kayak rentals, and similar small enterprises. Eligible applicants can receive up to $2,500. Applications will be accepted through Monday, Sept. 10.
To date, the Community Foundation has received 46 applications for a total of $115,000 requested.
The Community Foundation has distributed $43,000 so far, and another $23,000 to $28,000 will be awarded this week, said Cindi Withorn, the marketing director.
The foundation has received $26,315 in donations to help with the hardship grants, she said. That includes $10,000 from First Florida Integrity Bank, she said.
D'Antuono said his next scheduled charter dive trip is Sept. 29, with the hope the algae bloom and red tide has gone away so visibility is good again. The hardship grant enabled him to pay rent for the month.
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“It’s definitely helped,” he said. “Everything helps right now.”
The Community Foundation is facing a deficit of about $38,000 to meet the demand for hardship grants; it is accepting donations where 100 percent will be used for the grants, Withorn said.
Kelly Gianello, who along with her husband, Enrique, owns Windstalker’s, a kiteboarding lessons and paddleboard rental business, said the $2,000 grant from the foundation has been a blessing.
The money helps with the rent for the business at 620 Ninth St. N., she said.
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“We haven’t had one phone call in two months,” Gianello, 50, said. “We would be out in the street.”
The Labor Day holiday usually means brisk business, but Tropical Storm Gordon put an end to that.
“We didn’t get a break,” she said. “It’s going to take months to get back on our feet.”
Gianello was also applying for a Small Business Administration low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loan but was frustrated by the complicated online paperwork.
“We don't have half the papers they're asking for,” she said. “I don't know how they expect people to do this.”
Peter Root can count on one hand how many charter fishing trips he’s had in recent weeks, and the prospects are grim going forward.
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“I don’t have anything on the books until Oct. 5,” Root, owner of Naples Custom Fishing Charter, said about the devastating impact of the algae bloom. “It’s hurt me a lot.”
The 53-year-old with a family is grateful for a grant he received from the Community Foundation, with some of the money going to advertising his business and the rest to help with a truck repair. He did not want his grant amount disclosed.
“It helped me tremendously,” he said. “I am truly grateful. I can’t thank them enough.”
In recent days, conditions have improved for fishing charters with the algae bloom seeming to go away, he said.
Root launches out of Bayview Park in East Naples and heads south. Tropical Storm Gordon that came through the area on Labor Day has pushed the red tide offshore, he said.
Anybody who would like to make a donation to the “Care for Collier” fund to help toward red tide relief can do so at paypal.com.
Checks can be sent to the Community Foundation of Collier County, 1110 Pine Ridge Road, No. 200, Naples, FL 34108.