Philanthropy is a Verb
FOR CAROL & TOM BEELER
42 SARASOTA SCENE | MAY 2019
philanthropy
By Ryan G. Van Cleave | Photo by Nancy Guth
While there are a lot of ways to be involved in the enterprise
music students to see the Guitar Girls
Studio Theater, followed by dinner at the Beeler home for all
the students and three professional actors/singers. “My favorite
hobby is cooking,” Carol admits, “so of course I made dinner for
the students and actors—I wouldn’t consider having it catered.”
The conversation lasted until 11 p.m. despite students having
classes the next day—they were that engaged in speaking with
professionals and learning more about what it takes to become
a successful entertainer.
ago, they readily agreed. The goal was to take an already-strong
paid tuition and mentoring.
“We love the arts and have season tickets to almost every
theater,” Tom says, so supporting young musicians in this
manner made perfect sense. The arts are one of the things
that drew the Beelers from Michigan to Sarasota 15 years
travel, and they’ve been to 135 countries so far.
A semi-retired real estate developer, he’s now a photography
buff. They’re always game to explore what’s out there with
his camera ready, just in case. In 2017, they even joined the
“Semester at Sea” program, a semester-long around-theworld
academic cruise with 600 undergraduate students
and professors organized by Colorado State University. “We
saw a lot and we audited many classes,” Carol says with a
laugh. She’s a fan of lifelong learning too, after a rich career
met in a calculus class as undergrads.