HELPING MOTHER NATURE ONE BAG AT A TIME!
Maggie Monfreda is a third grader in the Gulf Beaches Elementary School’s Gifted Program. Each student in the program is required to plan and execute a community service project. Maggie had to come up with the idea on her own. After learning during sea turtle season that turtles can mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, she thought of organizing a beach clean up. She designed a flyer and hung them at her school and recreation center. She invited every adult she knows. She was very happy with her ability to pull so many people together to do something good for the community. We saw several photos from Maggie’s October and November beach clean ups, and coincidentally saw her family in action ourselves in December. She had recruited her aunt and cousins in October. In November, they were joined by some USF students, and in December they were assisted by a woman and her daughter that were on vacation and wanted to help. Kudos to Maggie Monfreda and her family, to Gulf Beaches Elementary School, (and the Paradise Grille at Upham Beach, which just reopened after a major renovation.)
RCS Food Bank Receives Shipment from Publix’s Food For Sharing
This week Publix delivered 51,327 pounds of food to the RCS Food Bank from their Food for Sharing campaign. Originally the RCS Food Bank was supposed to receive 24 pallets from the campaign, but Alex Thomas, director of RCS Food Bank, was happily surprised when the truck contained 40 pallets instead! The shipment included tuna, mac and cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, beef stew, peanut butter, fruit cocktail, rice, canned ham, grape jelly and breakfast bars —enough to provide almost 43,000 meals.
Last year RCS Food Bank provided 2,445,563 meals to those facing hunger in Pinellas County. In November, the RCS Food Bank served 7,266 individuals including 142,016 pounds of food out of the warehouse and 136,822 pounds of food out of sub-distribution sites.
Hunger Facts:
- 1 in 6 Floridians struggle with hunger.
- Food insecurity rate in Pinellas County is 16.2%.
- There were 38,940 children in Pinellas County in 2014 considered food insecure.
Holiday Good Deeds
The Gulf Beach Masonic Lodge took part in the Salvation Army Angel Tree program at Tyrone Mall. The Angel Tree program is designed to get holiday gifts to needy children in the community. Over nineteen members of Gulf Beach Masonic Lodge took turns manning the Angel Tree booth. In addition, Christmas food baskets were prepared and delivered by members and friends of Gulf Beach Masonic Lodge to local families in need. www.gulfbeachlodge.org.
LOEWS DON CESAR DONATES OVER 350 TOYS TO JOHNS HOPKINS ALL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
During its annual Winter Solstice celebration on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 21, the Loews Don CeSar collected more than 350 donated toys and several gift cards for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in downtown St. Petersburg. More than 500 members of the community attended the free holiday event and filled three large bins with toys.
Employees of the Loews Don CeSar dropped off the gifts at the hospital following the event to an elated staff.
The toys will be given to sick children as part of the hospital’s All Kids Wonderland, an event that allows family members to select donated gifts from a faux storefront. The toys are distributed to the hospital’s child residents on Christmas Day to spread holiday cheer and provide a sense of normalcy.
The hotel’s donation is part of the Loews Hotels Good Neighbor Policy, the hospitality industry’s first comprehensive community outreach program, which addresses a variety of issues, such as hunger relief, literacy rates and green practices. Created in 1990 by Jonathan Tisch, Loews Hotels Chief Executive Office, the Loews Good Neighbor Policy is the company’s formal commitment to hotel employees giving back to the communities where they work and live.