Goodwill's Festival of Trees Names Winners

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Dec. 21, 2018 - PRLog -- Goodwill's 12^th Annual Festival of Trees ushered in the holidays at Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center and raised more than $140,000. Proceeds benefit the Southwest Florida Goodwill Foundation. Record attendance during the six-day event resulted in a 56 percent increase over last year.

Twenty-two local businesses decorated artificial trees valued up to $9,600, which were raffled during the Nov. 27 through Dec. 2 event, located at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center.  Trees, wreaths and other decorations were donated through a grant from The Home Depot Foundation and delivered to the raffle winners' homes by delivery sponsors Two Men & A Truck on Dec. 3. The live raffle drawing is available on the festival's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/fortmyersfestivaloftrees.

Festival attendees cast hundreds of ballots for their favorites at the special Lee County Elections ballot booth. For the third consecutive year, a tree sponsored by Chico's FAS/Soma/White House Black Market was voted "Best All-around." The 9-foot tree called "La Vie en Rose" was designed featuring French rose colors and sparkled with hundreds of necklaces, bracelets and jewelry.  Under the tree were Soma luxurious robes, pajamas, slippers, candles and more.

SunTrust Bank decorated the "Pretty as a Peacock" tree that was chosen "Most Creative" and featured peacock feathers and dozens of gift cards included with the tree.

Fort Myers Mayor Pro Tem Johnny Streets made his "Mayor's Choice" the "Palms Trees Sway, Are You Listening" tree, decorated by Norris Furniture and Interiors, who also won in the category of "Most Traditional" tree.

Other tree designers included City Furniture, Foreign Investment Solutions, Calusa Harbour Senior Living, Costco Wholesale, Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce, Suncoast Credit Union, Goodwill Finance Team, B & I Contractors, US Sugar, Key West Express, LCEC, Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, Suncoast Beverages, Miracle Baseball, The Open Door Shoppes at Hendry Street, Decorating Den Interiors, Gateway Charter School, The Home Depot and Media Vista Group.

"We couldn't do this event without our generous sponsors," said Goodwill Industries President and CEO Rick Evanchyk. "The fundraiser will do a lot of good for the people we serve in Southwest Florida," he added.

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. Its mission is to help people with disabilities and disadvantages by offering life-changing opportunities to achieve independence.

Goodwill's programs in Southwest Florida include Pathways to Opportunity, Pathways to Work, Job-Link Resource Centers, Goodwill Digital Learning Center, small business training classes, disability-accessible housing, and more. For more information about Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, please visit http://www.goodwillswfl.org or call (239) 995-2106.

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