Pine Island Community Hosts Pasta Dinner Fundraiser for Salty Girls Café Owner

Lisa Dence spent years feeding the people of Pine Island through catastrophe and rebuilding. She cooked daily for Beacon Bites recipients, opened the Olde Fish House in Matlacha so the Matlacha Hookers Fishing Derby had a home, fed contractors and struggling residents after Hurricane Ian tore the island apart, and then, after Ian destroyed the Olde Fish House entirely, started over with Salty Girls Island Café at 10700 Stringfellow Road in Bokeelia. Now Dence is facing serious medical issues that have kept her out of work, and the financial strain on her family has brought Pine Island squarely to her corner.

On Wednesday, April 15, a pasta dinner fundraiser at the St. James Civic Center, 3300 Fourth Ave., St. James City, will run from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person. Both eat-in and carry-out options are available, so a table of four can put $80 directly toward Dence's recovery without staying the whole evening. Advance tickets are available from Julie Robbers at (239) 744-9767, and door tickets will be sold throughout the two-hour window.

Beacon of HOPE Executive Director Nancy Cote, who organized the earlier "Love for Lisa" benefit held March 1 at the St. James City Civic Association, has described Dence as someone who has "always poured her heart out helping Pine Islanders in need." Cote pointed to the moment when fellow islander Mel Meo needed space: Dence told her "here's my space, use it as you will." The pasta dinner on April 15 is essentially the island answering in kind.

Those who can't attend can contribute to the Lisa Dence Fund by check to the Beacon of HOPE, through the Beacon's PayPal account, or in person at the Centennial Bank branch on Stringfellow Road, where Branch Manager Elsie Stearns can direct the donation. The Beacon of HOPE operates as a 501(c)(3), so contributions are tax-deductible.

The April 15 dinner is the second organized fundraiser for Dence this year. That Pine Island has already rallied once and is doing it again reflects the specific, personal way small island communities account for their own, particularly someone who, as Cote put it, "poured her heart out" for this place every time it needed her. A $20 plate of pasta is Pine Island's way of returning that.