Taking Care of Our Community

In late September, Hurricane Helene barreled toward Florida, setting its sights on our Gulf Coast homes. After major flooding devastated parts of our community, the rebuilding began. The time to clear the debris on the roads ran out before, days later, another storm hit, compounding the disruption and damage. 

But crisis has a fierce way of reminding us of the value of community. At Shorecrest, support for one another poured out immediately, allowing the issue of how to care for a community in disaster to unfold almost organically. 

From new housing placements for families at nearby apartment complexes, to volunteers knocking down drywall, to picking up laundry for friends and bringing teachers meals, the Shorecrest community has uplifted each other in ways both heartfelt and generous. 

The impact has been profound.  

“It’s a tender time,” said Michael Gillis, Director of Advancement, who coordinated many of the support efforts on behalf of the School. “Many have lost everything. Everyone has been affected in some way. The question is how do we best care for our Shorecrest community in challenging times? The answer is: One family at a time.”

In the aftermath Gillis and his Advancement team made calls on behalf of the Board of Trustees to each Shorecrest family; and in those nearly 800 calls it became clear that caring for one another is etched into our community’s DNA, he said. “Sensitive to what families have been facing, we paused our giving programs and focused on caretaking. Families stepped forward with open hearts to be charitable.” That allowed the Shorecrest Administration to distribute over $5,000 worth of gift cards to affected faculty and staff. 

Several donor families have joined their resources to establish a Disaster Relief Fund for Faculty and Staff that will provide nearly $200K for those affected; now and in the future. 

On behalf of the Mehta and Modh families, Paru Mehta said about this fund, “Our families always give to Shorecrest, but we saw an opportunity to do so more deeply at this time because it would provide immediate impact for teachers and staff.” 

Tara and Cory Gaffney saw the pressing need of this new fund as well. “Much of Shorecrest’s success as a school comes from a strong and caring faculty and staff. We want to help those affected to have the resources available to help them in their time of need.” offered Tara, “It’s most important to me that the teachers know there is support available for them.”

“Head of School Nancy Spencer’s dedication to students, faculty, staff and the Mission was clear at every step of the way,” said Gillis. 

“First we attended to material needs, housing for faculty and staff, and goods such as furniture, clothing, bins and toys,” said Spencer. New partnerships across the wider web of St. Petersburg emerged from businesses including Kane's Furniture and Jim Ferguson; alumni-owned Bert Smith Auto; the Lake Maggiore Apartments; and our new neighbors, the Arya Apartments on 1st Street..

Additional support efforts were pushed forth by parent volunteers, led by Volunteer Coordinators Lauren Carlan and Kristi Aussner and SCA Co-Chairs Kyle Toma and Nina Pileborg-Dunster. The Shorecrest Community Association Facebook group and a private website enabled Shorecrest families to find ways to assist other families while ensuring that the School could focus on student needs.

“Our next step is to try and support employees who have experienced significant financial hardship due to the recent disasters,” said Spencer. “The Board and the Administration are working to create additional need-based opportunities for financial support of employees through interest-free loans and our new Disaster Relief Fund.” More details will be announced over the course of the next few weeks.

In the meantime, Shorecrest is dedicated to keeping students’ spirits high as they continue to learn and grow in an unprecedented time. There are many opportunities in the coming days for fun outside of the classroom from St.Pete STEAMfest on October 26 to the Shore to Shorecrest 5k on November 3. Each event is focused on bringing the community together in joy. And each is an opportunity to feel the Shorecrest Spark. 

If your family is in need of post-storm support or is interested in being a part of community recovery efforts, please contact Michael Gillis, Director of Advancement, at [email protected].