Gold Coast Eagle Distributing donates $4.8 million to help Florida schoolchildren

SARASOTA, Fla.– Gold Coast Eagle Distributing has contributed more than $4.8 million to Step Up For Students, providing 605 Florida schoolchildren with access to the education options that best help them succeed. Gold Coast Eagle Distributing sells and markets all brands produced by Anheuser-Busch, Modelo/Corona, and many import and craft beers in Manatee and Sarasota counties and is among the largest of 450 Anheuser-Busch Beer Distributors in the United States.

Since 2012, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing has generously funded more than 8,160 scholarships through contributions totaling more than $49 million to Step Up For Students, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that helps manage the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The program, which is funded by tax-credited contributions from corporations, allows families to choose between a scholarship to support private school tuition and fees, or one that assists with transportation costs to a different public school.

“At Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, we are proud to serve the Suncoast and are committed to being a responsible and active member of the community,” said John Saputo, Owner, CEO of Gold Coast Eagle Distributing. “We believe our partnership with Step Up For Students is helping us to do just that and we are proud to be able to continue to support their mission.”

More than 250,000 K-12 students throughout Florida benefited from a scholarship administered by Step Up For Students this past school year. Tuition scholarships vary by grade and county, but average $7,800 and can be used at more than 2,100 participating schools. About 51% of scholarship children are from single-parent households, and nearly 63% are Black or Hispanic. The average household income of families who received scholarships in 2022-23 was $42,795.

“We are extremely grateful for the continued support of Gold Coast Eagle Distributing,” said Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up For Students. “Because of companies like Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, students in Sarasota and Manatee counties and throughout Florida will be able to access the right education for them to succeed.”

About Step Up For Students 
Step Up For Students is a non-profit organization that helps administer the donor-funded

Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The program provides students with tuition assistance to the private school of their parents’ choice, or financial assistance to offset the transportation cost to a different public school. Since 2001, Step Up For Students has awarded more than 1.5 million Florida Tax Credit Scholarships.

Step Up also helps administer that state-funded Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with

Unique Abilities, plus three other scholarships: the Family Empowerment Scholarship for

Educational Options, the Hope Scholarship for public school students who are bullied, and the New Worlds Scholarship Accounts for kindergarten through fifth-grade students enrolled in public school who struggle with reading and/or math. For more information, visit www.StepUpForStudents.org.