Our Lady’s Pantry receives gift of $10,000 from the Tomiak Foundation!

Pantry director Tom Bullaro had a surprise call one day from Susan Bailyn.  Susan and her husband, Dr. Arthur Bailyn, are on the Board of a philanthropic foundation in New York.

“Susan wanted to know if Our Lady’s Pantry could use any help from their Foundation,” says Bullaro.  “I told her our old refrigerated truck needed lots of work.  Susan was interested in helping us!”

According to Bailyn, The Mildred and Gladys Tomiak Foundation was started by two sisters in 2016.  The sisters simply wanted to do what they could to make the world a better place.  Their organization is designed to provide general humanitarian relief where possible.  The Foundation is especially interested in supporting the well-being of seniors.

“When I learned about Our Lady’s Pantry through Next Door, I thought they might be able to use our help,” says Bailyn.  “I called Tom.  He told me the Pantry’s refrigerated truck needed about $5,000 work.  Our board decided to give the Pantry $10,000.  This would cover the work on the truck and other operational costs — as well as buy food for our neighbors.

“We seek people out,” Bailyn said.  “We want to bring money from New York to the Sun City Center area, where we have been living since 2014.  We are embedded in this community.  We don’t want anyone to go without food or anything else they might need.”

Susan and Dr. Arthur Bailyn donating $10,000 from The Mildred and Gladys Tomiak Foundation to Our Lady's Pantry!!

Needless to say, Bullaro was thrilled with this unsolicited gift to help cover the cost of truck repairs.  “Our operational costs are huge,” he says.  “To receive an unexpected gift such as this, specifically to help cover these behind-the-scenes costs, is just amazing.  We are so grateful to Susan and Arthur for this donation.”

“We all benefit when we help one another,” says Bailyn.

“We are so happy we can help out.”

Through their work with the Tomiak Foundation, Susan and Arthur have gifted numerous local non-profits — including the Sun City Center Emergency Squad, Samaritan Services, The Warriors’ Place, the Kings Point Dog Park, and more.  When they are not wearing their Board hats, the couple is busy as ever.  Susan works in remodeling homes, while Arthur commutes back to New York regularly.  He works in the sleep medicine field as well as actively practicing as a dentist.