Barbara and Jay Lancer and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota County

By Ryan G. Van Cleave | Photo by Nancy Guth

For some, participation in sports is pure fun. For some, it’s a way of life. The latter is the case with Sarasota residents Barbara and Jay Lancer, who’ve used sports and celebrity athletes to engage with the community they love. As an expert fisherman, Jay takes underprivileged children out for fishing expeditions, and he’s offered similar top-level fishing experiences as auction prizes for charity fundraisers. Barbara uses one of her great loves—tennis—as a fundraising vehicle to help nonprofits, such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. She’s served on their board for 10 years, and she’s been involved with them in some capacity for nearly two decades. 

“I was heavily involved in the Make-a-Wish Foundation for about ten years,” Barbara says. Then one day, some friends invited her to become involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. She loved it. “I quickly realized I could cast a wider net. 7,000 kids use the services in the six Clubs in our area. That’s impact.” While she still works with Make-a-Wish, she’s awed by the great work happening at the Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota County. Jay’s a big fan, too, saying, “They do such a wonderful job for at-risk children.”

That’s why the biggest beneficiary of Jay and Barbara’s philanthropic efforts is without a doubt the Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota County. And sports play a big part in how that happens.

Over the past seven years, the annual Joey Gratton Tennis Championship has raised more than $1 million to support career readiness and vocational training programs. The event honors the late Joey Gratton—a champion motorcross and powerboat racer as well as a nationally-ranked tennis player. The 2018 tournament at the Longboat Key Club Tennis Gardens was co-chaired by Barbara and Christina Bonilla, the wife of World Series Champion Bobby Bonilla. Bill Sadlo, President/CEO at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, adds that “Barbara Lancer’s dedication to this event means that the youth we serve will have access to life-changing programs to help them achieve a great future.”

But Barbara does more than just run a sports fundraising event. When she first got involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, she realized that the Lee Wetherington Club tennis courts were in sad shape—they had potholes! So Barbara went about getting the money to fix those. Then she brought in an IMG tennis pro to give lessons to the kids on those new courts. Before long, she started bringing in professional athletes to Clubs to help them learn about sports, health, and education. “I take these athletes there, and they get hooked. They keep coming back.” That list of pros includes celebrities such as Australian Open winner Petr Korda and Martina Navratilova, considered by many to be the world’s greatest female tennis player from 1975-2005. Barbara adds, “There’s also Jimmy Arias—at one point, he was ranked #5 in the world in tennis—who’s really done the most for us. We now give the Jimmy Arias Cup in his honor to a deserving athlete in our community.”

Why are Jay and Barbara so committed to giving? “Both of us came from nothing,” Barbara says. “We worked ourselves through college and into successful careers.” The first in her family to ever go to college, she knows what effect education and support can have on someone’s future. Jay, too, has understood the value of helping others from a young age. His father—a self-made man who ran a downtown Sarasota music store—was asked by people from a newly-built Newtown church for help finding a great deal on an organ. Barbara adds that “he went out of his way to not only find one, but purchase it for them and have it delivered. That’s the type of man he was.” And though Jay’s father passed away 25 years back, that same church recently honored him for that early generosity that helped put them on the path to success. Jay adds, “We’ve been so blessed in life that we knew we had to give back.”

One of the biggest lessons Barbara learned happened when she moved her pharmacy career to part time so she and Jay could travel. That gave her a lot of extra time, so she sought out opportunities to help with a friend who worked with a nonprofit. That friend essentially said, “Hey, you and your husband are doing well, so we really just need you to write a check.”

“I learned a big lesson from that,” says Barbara. “Some people have time, some have money, and some have both. It’s a group effort.” And she feels this level of understanding helps make her successful in her charity endeavors. “I’m open to any way that someone wants to help. And if it’s money, a $10 gift can be extremely meaningful.”

Whether it’s an old Tony Robbins quote or not, Barbara says that “the best thing about living is giving.” And the young people who frequent the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County are always so grateful. “You do a little thing, and the way they respond, you’d think it’s so much more,” Barbara says. “It’s an amazing experience to be part of all this.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, please visit bgcsarasota.com or call 941.366.3911.