CRESTVIEW—A Covenant Hospice ribbon cutting and open house are planned Oct. 21 in Crestview.
The event is 3-6 p.m. Oct. 21 at Suite B5, 4100 S. Ferdon Blvd., and includes a 4 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony by the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Covenant Hospice plans Crestview branch open house
CRESTVIEW — A coat drive to benefit Crestview residents is being planned by the Concerned Citizens Group of Crestview.
The group is collecting clean, reusable coats throughout the month of October.
To contribute, drop off extra coats at 405 Benjamin Street in Crestview.
Call Pearl Bess, 682-5733 for details. Coats will be distributed to the community Nov. 15.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Concerned Citizens group hosts coat drive
CRESTVIEW — YMCA members and staffers are coming to terms with the downtown facility's unexpected closure.
'WE ARE A FAMILY'
“We were all shocked and saddened … we heard the words, but we couldn’t process it,” Susan Hill, a YMCA fitness instructor, said.
Exercising while socializing with friends was a part of Hill’s daily routine.
“This is what we do; we come here every day and we work out,” Hill said. “We are a family in every way; we support each other on a lot of levels.”
Laura Wellborn, who also worked part-time at the Crestview location, said working out with friends was therapeutic.
“I came out of emotional and medical conditions because of (the Crestview YMCA),” she said. “It’s my home away from home.”
YMCA member Louis Richard, who learned about declining membership in a recent club meeting, said the announcement was expected, but not so soon.
“(Club officials) talked about the possibility of closing in the future," he said. "I didn’t think it would happen a week later."
OPERATING IN DEFICIT
The YMCA of Florida's Emerald Coast earlier this week decided to close all of Okaloosa County's YMCA locations and programs. Friday was all locations' last day.
The decision stems from “a lack of financial resources,” an Emerald Coast YMCA news release stated.
The Emerald Coast YMCA has operated in a financial deficit since 2007, when the Destin YMCA was built, according to the news release.
Tom Moody, a former executive director for Crestview's YMCA, credited Emerald Coast YMCA President and CEO Rudy Wright for his efforts in trying to correct the debt issue.
Still, it wasn't enough.
“I don’t know how corporate arrived at shutting everything down, but I can understand why they did it … because the money is not coming in,” he said.
'WE WERE STAYING EVEN'
With an estimated 1,200 members at the Crestview YMCA, Moody believed the local YMCA could sustain itself.
“There is no mortgage on our YMCA,” he said. “Our YMCA wasn’t making a lot of money, but we were staying even. In some cases, depending on the month, we were making money.”
Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce President Wayne Harris also said he was confident that the Hub City's location was breaking even.
Colleen Mahn, chairman of the board for the YMCA of the Emerald Coast, said she thought Harris’s calculations might be “outdated,” though she would not further discuss corporation finances.
More than 30 percent of the Crestview location’s income went toward the Emerald Coast YMCA’s deficit, Moody said.
He supported the Crestview location by organizing two fundraisers at his private ranch, raising nearly $28,000.
Moody said he reached out to Wright about having Crestview's YMCA become financially independent. However, Wright said it would not be possible, Moody said.
Harris, for one, said he thinks maybe the YMCA of Northwest Florida would be willing to absorb a single self-sustaining facility like the one Crestview could offer.
HELPING OUT
Walker Elementary in Crestview, Florosa Elementary and Kenwood Elementary contract with the YMCA for before- and after-school care at their respective facilities.
As of Friday, those services – which serve about 105 students – ended.
For the next two weeks, the Okaloosa County School District will step in and provide interim care at no cost to the families.
Northwest Florida Daily News Staff Writers Tom McLaughlin and Kari C. Barlow contributed to this report.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'SHOCKED AND SADDENED': YMCA's closure stuns staffers, members
CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Public Library’s next monthly open-mic for poets and musicians to read, perform, improvise and play together is 6 p.m. Oct. 14, at 1445 Commerce Drive, Crestview.
The group's November poetry performance is Nov. 18, since the library will be closed Nov. 11 due to Veteran's Day.
Everyone is welcome to attend the free event, even if you don't write poetry or play music.
For details, contact Esther Hurwitz, 850-682-4432 or ehurwitz@okaloosa.lib.fl.us; or Rick Sanders, 850-585-6399.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview library hosts monthly poetry and music jam
FORT WALTON BEACH — Shelter House, the domestic and sexual violence center serving Okaloosa and Walton counties, received a $20,000 grant from The Mary Kay Foundation as part of the organization’s annual Shelter Grant program to maintain critical services and programs.
The Mary Kay Foundation awarded a total of $3 million in funding to 150 domestic violence shelters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam leading up to Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.
“It’s been a bigger challenge than ever for shelters to keep their doors open and grants from The Mary Kay Foundation are a vital part in helping shelters move forward in their missions,” said Anne Crews, board member for The Mary Kay Foundation and Vice President of Public Affairs for Mary Kay Inc. “The shelter grants are a signature program of the Foundation and represent just one of the ways Mary Kay is committed to ending domestic violence. We are proud to support local shelters like Shelter House that are on the front lines of helping women and children who need shelter and support from abuse.”
Shelter House provides a home to more than 200 women, children and men each year through its emergency shelter. The center also assists more than 1,000 local women annually through its outreach program, including peer counseling, support groups, court advocacy and referrals. Additional services provided by Shelter House are a 24/7 hotline, on-site kennel, child therapy, violence prevention education and economic empowerment workshops. The funds received from The Mary Kay Foundation will allow Shelter House to provide the comforts of home, such as pillows, linens and food, to shelter residents.
“Shelter House is very thankful for this grant from The Mary Kay Foundation,” said Shelter House Executive Director Michelle Sperzel. “We’ve provided a safe haven for women, children and men for almost three decades and this grant will go a long way in helping us serve the growing needs of our local community.”
For nearly 20 years The Mary Kay Foundation has supported the prevention and elimination of domestic violence, an epidemic that touches one in every four women in her lifetime. Through the Foundation’s annual shelter grant program, $37 million has been granted to domestic violence organizations since 2000. Nearly 700 shelters requested funding this year.
Shelter House is the state-certified domestic and sexual violence shelter serving victims in Okaloosa and Walton counties. Services provided include 24-hour domestic violence/rape hotline, crisis counseling, advocacy, outreach, primary prevention, transitional housing and confidential shelter.
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If you feel that a family member or intimate partner is endangering your physical or emotional safety, if you have experienced sexual violence or if you know someone experiencing this in their home, call Shelter House’s hotline at 1-800-44-ABUSE or 850-863-4777.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Domestic violence, sexual violence shelter gets $20K grant
Regent Caroline Maney and registrar Sherry Vieth, of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution's Choctawhatchee Bay chapter, recently welcomed new members Wanda Young, Linda McCooey, Barbara McDaniel, Karen Baker and Joanne Adams. Pictured, from left, are Vieth, Young, McCooey, Maney, McDaniel, Baker and Adams.
The group promotes historic preservation, education and patriotism at local, state and national levels. Membership is open to any woman 18 years or older who proves lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 5 women join Choctawhatchee Bay DAR
The Okaloosa County Commission on the Status of Women, in association with the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, is hosting and supporting open and informational conversations with women throughout the state.
The schedule is as follows:
•6-8 p.m. Oct. 23, Northwest Florida State College, Niceville campus, Student Service Center, Room 113
•6-8 p.m. Nov. 18, University of Florida, Fort Walton Beach campus, Building 1, Room 124
Information gathered during these conversations will be shared with state lawmakers in the Florida Commission’s 2014 Annual Report, “Your Voice Matters: A Conversation with Florida Women and Families.”
The Florida Legislature requires the Florida Commission to study women's changing and developing roles and to implement recommendations to improve the development of individual potential.
Call 864-3148 or see www.occsw.org for more information.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Conversations with women set Oct. 23, Nov. 18
CRESTVIEW — The second annual International Festival and Hispanic Heritage Celebration will showcase North Okaloosa County’s rich cultural diversity, organizers said.
Blanca Galindo, an Okaloosa County School District English for Speakers of Other Languages interventionist, said the festival will include:
• Representation by more than 20 countries, including China, Russia, Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Ireland, Korea and many Central and South American countries.
• Appearances by the Crestview Area Sister City Program and the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), which will host a booth about different countries in which its soldiers serve.
• Northwest Florida State College’s English as a Second Language program will share information about county diversity.
• Performances — featuring Mexican “Latin American Idol” star Amid Montelongo — will include dances and music from Ireland, the Middle East, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, Central and Latin America.
Regional scholars have taken interest, Galindo said.
“We’re going to have 35 students from University of West Florida coming to the event," she said. "They’re doing a research project on diversity,” said.
The festival is presented by the school district's English for Speakers of Other Languages program and sponsored by the Friends of the Arts and area schools’ multicultural clubs.
Cultural or national groups interested in signing up may contact Galindo — 683-7500, extension 111 or blanca.galindo@mail.okaloosa.k12.fl.us — by Friday.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: International Festival and Hispanic Heritage Celebration
WHEN: Oct. 17. Exhibits 5:30-6 p.m.; performances 6-7:30 p.m.
COST: Free
WHERE: Shoal River Middle School gymnasium, 3200 Redstone Ave. E.
Email News Bulletin Arts Editor Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: More than 20 countries, cultures expected at international celebration
Milton, Fla. – Bay Area Food Bank won one of 50 grants awarded to Feeding America food banks as part of Walmart’s “Fight Hunger Spark Change” initiative.
The contest started on September 15 and ended on October 5. The 50 food banks with the most votes at the end of the contest were awarded $60,000 each in support of their hunger relief initiatives. Bay Area Food Bank finished at number 48 out of 50 securing their $60,000 award by just 11 votes.
Commentary: 20% of U.S. children share this sad statistic>>
Bay Area Food Bank will use the awarded funds to continue to help low-income families stretch dollars and eat better through distribution of purchased and donated food. The food bank will expand Cooking Matters Workshop, which help clients who are food insecure gain exposure to fresh foods, nutritional recipes, tips on reading food labels, and tips for shopping on a tight budget. Each Cooking Matters Workshop series consists of 6 hands-on cooking demonstrations.
After each class, participants receive a bag of food so they can cook the recipes used in the class session at home. Workshops include economic shopping seminars and an in-store shopping session to improve understanding of pricing and nutrition labeling. The food bank will also provide 335,000 pounds of food to its most impoverished and rural counties through direct distribution and mobile pantries.
Bay Area Food Bank serves a 24-county area spanning south Alabama, south Mississippi, and the panhandle of Florida. In 2013, the food bank distributed over 17 million pounds of food to more than 400 church pantries, soup kitchens and other nonprofit organizations throughout its service area.
The food bank also operates multiple nutrition programs, including Summer Food Service, Afterschool Snack, Backpack, Disaster Relief, Community Garden, Mobile Pantry, Cooking Matters, and SNAP Outreach. Bay Area Food Bank is a United Way agency and a member of Feeding America.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa among 25 counties to benefit from $60K food grant
CRESTVIEW — Eric Strindholm’s Ponkan orange tree would have been a gift to his neighbors, a source of fresh citrus that could provide nourishment.
But someone destroyed it between 12 and 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.
“It’s really upsetting,” the Savage Street resident said. “It is the work of a malicious person who’s just destroying other people's property.”
The vandal may also have slashed two new cars' tires and fired BB guns at nearby residents’ windows, according to Crestview police.
Strindholm, who grew up in the Miami Beach area, hopes to recreate such citrus grove ambience on the property around his 70-year-old clapboard cottage.
And share the fruit to help others.
“I want it to look like those vintage postcards, with citrus trees full of fruit,” he said. “I thought I could make the whole yard an orchard and donate the fruit.”
Strindholm, who used a wheelchair after a car accident three years ago, temporarily depended on food from Sharing and Caring until he was well enough to return to his sales job. Sharing his orchard's bounty with the local food bank and soup kitchens will be a way to pay forward the generosity he received, he said.
Currently, Strindholm has lemon trees, a Valencia orange tree, a Thompson pink grapefruit, apple trees, a honeybell tangelo, and a honey Murcott tangerine that produces “the sweetest orange in the world,” Strindholm said. “You have to cut it with Valencia juice.”
The destroyed tree, worth $40, was to be one of a pair. The Ponkan orange — actually a large Mandarin tangerine — is very cold hardy; trees planted from its seeds bear fruit without pollinators, he said.
“If people planted those seeds, there’d be no food shortage,” Strindholm said. “If everybody grew at least one fruit tree and donated some to the soup kitchens, nobody would go hungry.”
Strindholm said he’s “over the anger” and won’t let a vandal deter him from raising fruit that will help feed neighbors in need.
Money is tight; he relies on bartering to help renovate his cottage, and he refurbishes and sells equipment to raise cash to buy fruit trees and maintain his orchard.
“As soon as I save enough money I run down to Lowe’s and buy another fruit tree,” he said.
He said he plans to replace the destroyed Ponkan orange tree when he can.
“I’m going to get another one as soon as I get the money,” he said. “You have to do whatever you can do to help each other.”
WANT TO HELP?
Call the Crestview Police Department, 682-2055, to report information about recent vandalism in neighborhoods behind Thrifty Foods
Call Eric Strindholm, 225-1768, to donate toward trees that will bear fruit for Sharing and Caring's food bank
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Undeterred by vandal, Crestview man vows to plant more citrus trees to feed the needy (VIDEO)
