Ronnie Shugar and Donda Mullis, co-founders of Raw Sugar Living, recently donated 72,000 containers of the company's "Simply Hand Wash" to area food banks. The donation, shipped for arrival on Jan. 4, 2021 will be shared between Sarasota’s All Faiths Food Bank and Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, handwashing is one of the simplest and most effective disease prevention methods. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread, Shugar and Mullis say they wanted to share the basic necessity with the food banks' network of clients and partner agencies. In addition to soap and other beauty products, Raw Sugar also produces hand sanitizers. Raw Sugar headquarters, located at 1717 Second St. in downtown Sarasota, is also home to our "Sarasota Heroes" mural, dedicated to our local frontline health care workers.