WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Being known as “Pillars of the Community” and a “true philanthropic power couple” by the Manatee Community Foundation isn’t anything to be taken lightly. Yet, Joe and Barbara Najmy have rightfully earned those titles. This Manatee County husband and wife duo have been active in giving back to our community for as long as they’ve been residents here.
Barbara and Joe were born in New …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
A career in the Air Force, specializing in nuclear weapons, isn’t exactly the background you’d expect a prestigious hospital’s President and Chief Executive Officer to have. But it was precisely that background that made HCA Florida Blake Hospital’s Steve Nierman so passionate about serving others.
Originally from Indiana, Steve attended the Air Force Academy and went into active duty until 1997. From there, he went …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
While HOPE Family Services has been around since 1979, their new Children’s Counseling Center will bring about a new dimension to their counseling services. Hoping to have construction completed by the end of this year, the new space will have four counseling offices and a lobby with various children’s toys and be able to help children aged four to 18 years old.
According to Dr. …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
With humble beginnings just six years ago at only 76 students, 36 mentors, and one location, Dive Into Reading has grown to over 500 participants and six locations across Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto counties. Dive Into Reading is a five-week summer program that helps first, second, and third-grade students who are behind in their reading comprehension. Along with reading, the program incorporates sight words and …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Standing in a plot of uncleared land off Ellenton-Gillette Road in Palmetto, Bobbie and Floyd Price envisioned a community where foster kids could live with their biological siblings in a safe, Christ-centered foster home. A place where healing and growth could occur for the children and the biological families on their path to reunification. Nine years later, that vision has become beyond immeasurably more of …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Many good things can come from pairing a little wine and some good Italian food together. However, one of the better things to emerge must be the birth of Sisterhood for Good (SFG) at Angela Massaro-Fain’s home 11 years ago.
In 2011, Angela, President of SFG, had been a Board Member of Lakewood Ranch Community Fund (LWRCF) for five years. The LWRCF Board President spoke …
WORDS: Merab Favorite
PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Health education for high schoolers. Could there be a more frustrating topic? For parents, it invokes visions of awkward conversations filled with bad analogies like birds and bees, an egg sizzling in a frying pan, and of course, that oversimplified slogan, “Just Say No.”
For teens, it’s even worse. The gut wrench that comes when the teacher asks them to answer an embarrassing question. …
WORDS: Christa Hardin, MA
Not taking tech breaks is one surefire way that summer will come and go in the blink of an eye. This isn’t news to you, of course. We all KNOW we need them.
We’ve seen the stats as well. Too much screen time poses several potential negative consequences, including vision impairment, sleeplessness, anxiety, and even addiction to the device itself (regiscollege.edu).
And yet virtually everyone uses …
WORDS: Carlee Colonneso
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Speak to Dr. Kristina DeWitt of SCF’s Education Department, and you will immediately recognize the commitment she has to helping those in Early Education. Whether mentoring aspiring teachers in the classroom, volunteering to promote literacy, or reaching out to the community, Dr. DeWitt’s love of learning is positively impacting Manatee County.
Long before Dr. DeWitt started working in education, she …
WORDS: Sheri Roca
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Talent appears in many varieties, styles, and proportions. There are those that can lift our emotions with music and brilliant scientists that help shape the world. We recognize talented painters and artists from decades and centuries past, and we pay to watch athletes, gymnasts, and dancers perform and compete. But it seems to me that true kindness and a giving spirit are completely undervalued …
WORDS: Gabrielle Versmessen
When the devasting news started to emerge on January 12th of this year that Paul Sharff, Chief Executive Officer at the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County, had suddenly passed away, there was an outpouring of profound grief. It hit hard. It was very hard for two ladies …
WORDS: Merab Favorite
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Just as the crest of the sun started to spill over the horizon, he placed his bicycle on the rack, hurled his bag of equipment over his shoulder, and headed down the familiar trail at Robinson Preserve.
Once he arrived at the perfect spot, Mac Carraway assembled his camera. He waded into the shallow water looking to the mangroves for his most sought-after subject, …
WORDS: Carlee Colonneso
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Carol Butera’s path to philanthropy began with an interest in helping others. Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Carol received her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Northern Arizona University. After graduating, she moved to Kentucky and started working as a Crisis Intervention Counselor from midnight until 8:00 in the morning. This experience of seeing the pain and struggles that families have …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
“GO, SLOW, and WHOA!” are words one can hear children shouting when participating in the CATCH Early Childhood program. These catchphrases are readily recognized and easy to remember for young students when identifying healthful foods. Although the CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) program has been nationwide since 1988, Manatee CATCH has been around for about three years. The program is facilitated by the Early …
WORDS: Christa Hardin, MA
“Mom, did you email my teacher back about the survey?” One of my teens was asking me while another one was simultaneously pulling on me to print something their other teacher wanted them to have before lessons began. The third child was giving me that painstaking look of trying to be patient while I tended to the other two.
I loved that they wanted my …
