WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Between work, school, dinner, and family time, it can be difficult to find the time in your family’s busy schedule to fit in sports activities for young ones. However, HappyFeet Tampa Bay tries to combat this common problem with this solution: weekly preschool programs.
Offering weekly classes to over 220 preschools and early learning centers throughout the greater Tampa Bay area, the HappyFeet curriculum doesn’t …
WORDS: Sheri Roca
PICTURES: Wendy Dewhurst
When avid golfer and Waterlefe Golf and River Club member Bob Buchanan was looking for an avenue to help local kids after moving to Manatee County, he realized the community was lacking a program that would introduce the underserved and minority youth to the game of golf.
There are many occasions for kids to learn how to play basketball, football, soccer, baseball, and even …
WORDS: Gabrielle Versmessen
After reading about the events and powerful testimonies from students during the Kiwanis Key Leader program in a March 2020 issue of Kiwanis Magazine, Judge Ed Nicholas was sold on bringing the program to Manatee County.
Targeted toward eighth-grade through eleventh-grade students, the Key Leader weekend helps students develop leadership and team-building skills while assisting them in becoming the best they can be. According to the Kiwanis …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Hailing from Delaware, working in management at Walmart, longing to sell snow cones on the beach somewhere, Stephanie Edwards made her dreams a reality in 2015.
Stephanie worked for Walmart for 23 years. She sat on the board of directors for a food bank and the local chamber of commerce through her management position with the company, as well as served in various local reading …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Imagine living in a community where language barriers are broken, creating a common ground where we’re able to see ourselves as more the same than different. ¡HOLA! Elementary at Manatee School for the Arts is striving to do just that.
As an arts-infused dual-language public charter school, ¡HOLA! Elementary is the first and only school of its kind in Manatee County. It opened its doors …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Have you ever wanted your child to be enrolled in an afterschool care program but worried about lack of transportation? Would your child benefit from free tutoring that’s done on at least a 3:10 teacher-to-student ratio? What about being secure in knowing that your child is in a safe, positive, and life-affirming environment?
Avenue941 is a local initiative that does all of these things and …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Our local community has a plethora of established clubs and organizations that work hard every day to make Manatee County a better place to live. The Rotary Club of Bradenton especially strives to bridge the gaps in early childhood education to set young students up for educational success.
Rotary International focuses on six specific issues: teacher training, fighting diseases, saving mothers and children, supporting education, …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Someone you wouldn’t necessarily think would be connected to every part of a community is the “trophy guy.” But chances are if you or your kids played sports in Manatee County in the last 37 years or have received an award in school or at work, you’ve obtained a piece created by Don Ide of The Trophy Case.
Don moved from south of Buffalo, New …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
When walking up to Prospect Riding Center, one is greeted by the sounds of chickens clucking, roosters crowing, cows mooing, and horses snorting. Not your typical equine therapeutic riding center, Prospect Riding Center offers a variety of hurdles to help folks with special needs overcome many different drawbacks, whether they be mental or physical.
“Coming here, you don’t know what you’ll come up on,” Susan …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
When Ted Lindenberg moved to Lakewood Ranch, he wanted to find a way to help people, especially in the process of reading. He joined a literacy council in Sarasota whose objective was to work with adults who have difficulties reading. However, while he found the organization wonderful, it wasn’t quite enough for him; he needed to help children. Thus, Books for Kids was born.
He …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
The needs of local women, children, and families are being radically changed for the better, thanks to The Lake Club Women’s Giving Circle. Based out of Lakewood Ranch, the Circle is comprised of philanthropic women who are residents of The Lake Club community.
Barbara Najmy founded The Lake Club (TLC) Women’s Giving Circle in 2014 after having the vision to create a women-only donor-advised philanthropic …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Most people would be surprised to learn that Santa Claus lives in Bradenton, Florida, but chances are if you’ve attended Elementary school in Manatee County in the last 30 years, you’ve met Steve Hensell, or “Santa Steve,” as he’s better known.
Steve worked as a painter and then as a master mechanic for the Manatee County School District for over 30 years. In 1990, he …
WORDS: Merab Favorite
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
When Jenny*, age 7, unexpectantly lost her father during the week of Thanksgiving, she was overcome with grief. Her interest in her favorite activities waned; she had trouble sleeping, had no appetite, and developed an immense fear of being alone. In school, she wasn’t participating in lessons and experienced bouts of intense emotion.
Jenny’s school administrator referred her to a mental health therapist conveniently …
WORDS: Gabrielle Versmessen
Helping to inspire people of all backgrounds and incomes to make a difference in our Manatee and Sarasota communities, the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust created a donation matching program in 2020 that has taken off a lot faster than they expected. In the first year, $4 million was donated to charities. In 2021, the second year, $8 million was distributed. And this year, they have …
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 …
