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President Madeline Pumariega welcomes and Florida Senator Jason Pizzo presents Anthony Damato Legacy Awards
Traditions matter—especially when a tradition involves those who are dedicated to protecting us day in and day out. One of the traditions of the Aventura Marketing Council/Chamber of Commerce (AMC) is to honor those in law enforcement—the men and women in our community who run toward the dangers that we run away from.
Miami-Dade College North Campus President Fermin Vazquez created a tradition of sponsoring the annual AMC meeting with his Miami-Dade School of Justice, the training ground for law enforcement professionals. The City of Sunny Isles Beach became part of this tradition this year by hosting this exceptionally large meeting in the beautiful ballroom of their Gateway Center. President Vazquez said, “This year’s meeting was outstanding, and I was exceptionally proud to have Miami-Dade College President Madeline Pumariega there.
Sunny Isles Beach Mayor Larisa Svechin was beaming with pride along with her Vice Mayor Jerry Joseph and Commissioners Jeniffer Viscarra, Fabiola Stuyvesant and Alex Lama.
“Saluting law enforcement at the Sunny Isles Beach Gateway Center was certainly the highlight of the year for me as Mayor and for our City. It was an honor to have the men, women, and K9s of our county, surrounding cities, and colleges and universities, all in one room, being recognized. I am humbled to have had the opportunity to cohost this event and welcome this event back annually.”
The AMC worked with North Bay Village Police Chief Sam Bejar, President of the Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police, to invite all the police chiefs in the county to attend and send in their nominees for the annual Anthony Damato Legacy Awards in the fields of Community Policing and Criminal Investigations. Anthony Damato, a light in this world that was extinguished far too early, was the epitome of the words “giving back” in so many ways. He dedicated his life to helping others, whether children with life-threatening illnesses or our law enforcement community. Florida State Senator Jason Pizzo had the honor of calling up each of the 28 honorees and sharing the reason why they were selected as a winner.
The participating police departments included Aventura, Bal Harbour, El Portal, FIU University, Golden Beach, Hallandale Beach, Indian Creek, Key Biscayne, Medley, Miami, Miami Beach, Miami-Dade, Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation, Miami Gardens, Miami Shores, North Bay Village, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Opa Locka, Pinecrest, South Miami, Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside and West Miami.
Beautiful awards were presented to the 28 winners of the Anthony Damato Legacy Awards as Senator Pizzo called each winner to the podium with their Chief and entire department, as well as their police K-9s. Sen. Pizzo shared with the full-house audience a synopsis of why each honoree was selected by their department, and the stories ranged from handling domestic violence crises, to defusing a suicide, to connecting the police to the community by teaching life skills, to mentoring students to working with the homeless to shutting down major criminal elements. It was a morning filled with amazing stories of our own law enforcement professionals going above and beyond the call of duty.
The meeting ended with 14 police K-9s being called to the podium for a group photo, and while bringing smiles to everyone, the realization was there that these K-9s face the same dangers that their human partners face each and every day and are an integral part of protecting and serving our community.
Miami-Dade College North Campus is located at 11380 NW 27th Ave., Miami 33167, www.mdc.edu/north; Gateway Center is located at 151 Sunny Isles Blvd, Sunny Isles Beach 33160, www.sibfl.net
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