Great Good Friday!
Wow!! What an amazing day! So much fun & learning!!
From having the BEST volunteer & Easter Bunny in the world, MS Hannah Ginn, making goodies for our staff & clients, Shay Barnes Catrett & staff from Bay Solutions & Whispering Palms providing an Easter egg hunt for our clients, an awesome visit with Commissioner Robert Carroll and wrapping up with dental hygiene training from the BEST interns, Cecilia Weld & Jennifer Wright from Gulf Coast State College all in one day! YES, it was and is a “GOOD FRIDAY!”
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SABC Update
New Air Conditioner
Many thanks to Trane for an air conditioner donation and Peaden for an installation donation! The unit is installed and working like a champ! Another positive & important impact, with the efficiency of this new unit, will help us on the power bill as well. Thank you so much for your awesome support!!
SABC 5K and Fun Run
- Total raised so far $3,850.
- Registration close to 60!
Rotary Golf Tournament
Rotary Golf Tournament Chair says total raised is close to $10,000!
United Way
- United Way employment grant was approved for $20,000, a $2,000 increase over last year! Great job Maggie!
- Designated funds increased by $6,000 over last year!
Client Dream
One of our clients, Shirley, will be visiting Centennial Bank next Wednesday to follow her “DREAM INSPIRED PLANNING” as a teller!!!
Special Education Week
When you have a “normal” child, who meets developmental benchmarks as expected, you are happy. When he or she gets good grades (and you share that they made the honor roll on your Facebook page) you’re happy. When your child does as he/she is told, you are happy. It is a “normal” joy, because, of course, it is his/her duty.
BUT- when you have a kid with some limitations, with each learning and small success, you pulsate and vibrate as if you had won a championship, because they have. I would like to ask you a great favor on an important subject:
It is Special Education week, not only for children with Down syndrome, Autism, Dyslexia, ADHD or ADD, but also for kids/teens with special needs; those who struggle every day to succeed, who battle disorders or learning issues over which they may have no control, and those who help them progress to various achievements and independence.
It would be great to teach our children to be kind and to accept all their classmates. Kids with special needs want what every kid wants: to be accepted! And they suffer greatly when they are rejected or mocked.
Thank You All for Participating in Raffle
Congratulations to Brandon Finsterbush, for winning the Condo raffle. He Won a 4Day/3Night Seachase Condo Weekend Getaway & (4) $25 Dave & Busters Power Cards, a total value of $1,000.00! From our 230 clients at St. Andrew Bay Center, we say “THANK YOU!!” for making a difference in the lives of individuals with special needs!!! Thank you Eric Myers for getting the condo donated and making this a very successful fundraiser and Rose Tortorici for the Power Cards from Dave & Busters. And a special thanks to all who purchased a raffle ticket.
The raffle We raised $2560 with around $150 in printing cost, so a pretty successful event!!
Many thanks to each of you who helped make this event a success!!
Lewis’s Dream Comes TRUE!
Chemical South Transportation provided the opportunity for Lewis to have his dream come true! Julie Barrett-Anderson saw our FB post last week where we shared Lewis had a dream to ride in an 18 wheeler! Julie called her husband, Todd who works for CST, and his boss, Brad, and they visited us this morning… Smiles Galore!!!
Thanks Sherry!
Don Sirmons, our Board President and I, had the wonderful opportunity yesterday to give THANKS & PRAISE to Sherry Taylor Bruce & the Panama City Moose Lodge for all of their unwavering support for our clients here at St. Andrew Bay Center! Valentines Dance, Halloween Dance & Christmas Party!
Thank You Kim!
Yesterday, our Board President, Don Sirmons & I had the pleasure for giving a sincere & personal thanks to Kim Giovine Cicero & her amazing team from the Messiah Lutheran Church for hosting the Tim Tebow’s Foundation Night to Shine! We have clients still wearing the crowns & tiaras’ 2 weeks after the event!
Valentine’s Dance at the Moose Lodge
Panama City Moose Lodge is the BEST! Another AWESOME night!!! Every year they go above and beyond providing a Valentines Dance, Halloween & Christmas Party for individuals with special needs. Many thanks to the Panama City Moose Lodge for holding this dance for our special needs community!!! Nothing but smiles on everyone’s faces and lots of good times!
St. Andrew Bay Center Clients say you are making a DIFFERENCE!!
A Night to Shine!
Night to Shine is an unforgettable prom night experience, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs ages 14 and older. On one night, February 10, 2017, 375 churches, from around the world, hosted Night to Shine for 75,000 honored guests through the support of 150,000 volunteers! Program is supported by the Tim Tebow Foundation [Learn More] .
St. Andrew Bay Center’s Clients attended the event. A great time was had by all!
Night to Shine is a night for the churches to shine, the volunteers to shine, our honored guests to shine, and most importantly, God to shine! Night to Shine is hosted by over 350 churches in 50 states and 11 countries. The impact is felt all over the world.
The Panama City Lutheran Church sponsored A Night to shine at Boardwalk this year.
Down Syndrome Worker Gets Retirement Party
A Massachusetts McDonald’s threw a worker with Down syndrome a retirement party for her 32 years of service to the fast food restaurant. Freia David worked the french fry station at the Chestnut Street McDonald’s in Needham for 32 years before she announced her retirement a few days ago. “It was nice, I’m really happy,” David told CBS Boston. “I like all my friends here.”
Her friends from the restaurant and the community in Needham came to wish her well. “When she sees any kids in the lobby, she started making fries and comes out and says ‘Hi sweetie.’ She’s a lovely, lovely girl,” says Rony Sandoval, the restaurant’s manager to CBS Boston. Her coworkers said that she would give her fellow employees a hug at the beginning of each shift. “Freia is a terrific employee,” a representative for McDonald’s said to CBS Boston. “We learned a lot more from her than she could ever learn from us.” David lives at the Charles River Center, a Needham-based home for the developmentally disabled. She was one of the first people to get a job through the Charles River Center’s job placement program. David said that although she’ll miss her job, she’s looking forward to retirement at the Center, where she will build upon her skills that she’s already learned. “I get to relax and take care of myself,” she said.
Source: CBS Boston