The Chronicle of Philanthropy January 9

When the director of the Religious Community Services food pantry in Clearwater, Fla., spoke at Margo and Katherine Sultenfuss's church one Sunday in 2001, the two sisters learned that donations were lagging but demand was rising, especially as local companies were laving off workers.

"I didn't even realize how much hunger was going on in my community," says Katherine, 15 (at right in photo). "You think about it in big cities, but you don't think about it in your own backyard."

The two sisters vowed to raise $500 for the charity. Several months later, they presented it with $14,350, far surpassing their own—and the food pantry's expectations. "We felt really good—and really surprised," says Margo, 12 (left).

Last month, they ran another campaign and brought in more than $18, 000.

To raise the money, the sisters asked 2,000 local doctors to give money to the pantry in lieu of sending a food basket or other holiday gifts to their business colleagues. They obtained a list of doctors from their father, who is a dermatologist, and sent each one a letter asking them to contribute $20 for every person to whom they would ordinarily send a holiday gift. In exchange, the girls promised to send cards telling the doctors' business colleagues that a donation had been made in the colleague's name, and that the contribution was sufficient to feed a family of four for two days.

They also solicited 1,200 businesses to make donations. Ten percent of each gift from a business will be set aside to pay the $1,000 annual cost of running the program, including the cost of sending appeals.

Stephany Dawson, the charity's marketing director, says she is very appreciative of the work done by the Sultenfuss girls. "They are so impressive," she said. "To want to do something is one thing, but to get it off the ground and run with it the way they have is another."

—MEG SOMMERFELD