Community Cooperative’s popular fall annual fundraiser, Becoming Cosmopolitan, will not be held this year due to the pandemic, but the community’s need for food is greater than ever. Supporters of the nonprofit dedicated to bringing food to the hungry and hope to the hopeless have pledged $50,000 and are asking the community to collectively donate $50,000 too.

“Many of our generous sponsors and attendees for Becoming Cosmopolitan have already graciously offered to maintain their pledges for this year’s Becoming Cosmopolitan Cares campaign,” said Stefanie Edwards, chief development and operations officer for Community Cooperative. “Our event may be cancelled, but the numbers of those coming to Community Cooperative for food and services continue to grow. As we look toward the holidays, we are counting on the community to help us feed their hungry neighbors.”

Becoming Cosmopolitan Cares will help fund for these important Community Cooperative programs:

n Full Plates Project, the annual effort to make sure there are no empty plates this Thanksgiving, supplies meals at the soup kitchen and baskets to families including frozen turkeys, canned veggies, stuffing mix, mashed potatoes, corn bread and more.

n Mobile Food Pantries, an ongoing effort to distribute food to anyone needing it, have tripled during the pandemic, and during the holiday months, that need traditionally increases.

n Holiday Outreach to support families in need of extra help through initiatives like Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Senior, supporters can directly help individuals with gifts and warm wishes for the holidays.

Sponsors who have supported the match for Becoming Cosmopolitan Cares include FineMark National Bank & Trust, Waste Pro USA, Custom Packaging & Products, Florida Power & Light, State Farm Sullivan Agencies, Lipman Family Farms, Sam Galloway Ford, Millennium Physician Group, Aloia Roland Attorneys at Law, The Flower Path Floral Studio, LadyCakes, Priority Marketing, Suncoast Beverage Sales, Florida Weekly and McGriff Insurance Services.

To support Becoming Cosmopolitan Cares visit communitycooperative.org/donate and choose the “Becoming Cosmo CARES” in the dropdown menu. Donations are also accepted by mail or by phone.

Send donations to P.O. Box 2143, Fort Myers, FL 33902, or call 239-332-7687. Please write “Becoming Cosmopolitan Cares” on the memo line of any check donations.