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‘Tis the season to be merry, generous and grateful for your blessings. With Thanksgiving Day over, preparations are underway for Christmas, Hannukah, New Year’s Eve and the list goes on. Traffic has increased with all our visitors coming to enjoy our weather. Counting your blessings is a great way to deal with it all and enjoy this time of year. With children out of school, you will want to look for fun activities and you will not want to miss the 76th Annual Junior Orange Bowl Parade on December 15. Parade Chair Iva Nichols advises that tickets for the grandstands are already on sale at the Jr. Orange Bowl’s Eventbrite page, but anyone can watch the parade for free by lining the streets in downtown Coral Gables along Miracle Mile. Junior Orange Bowl (JOB) President Michael Green was a recent guest on Gloria’s Gab LIVE and shared that while the parade is one of the signature events, the parade is only one of numerous Jr. Orange Bowl events taking place in South Florida this time of year. While cross country just concluded with a thousand runners, coming up next is basketball, tennis and golf with dates for the disability games and creative writing and more to be announced soon.
By the way, Junior Orange Bowl (JOB) Basketball is getting great talent again this year at the upcoming tournament chaired by JOB Past President Chuck Little. On December 27, 28 and 30, (Friday, Saturday and Monday), Chuck has scheduled eight games a day on Friday and Saturday at Westminster Christian School starting at 10 a.m. The championship games will be on Sunday – Girls’ Championship at 7:30 p.m. and the Boys’ Championship at 9 p.m. These JOB events are great events to attend with your children during the holidays and are either free or very affordable for all. Tennis and Golf tournaments offer everyone a chance to see future professionals like many who have participated in the past like Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, and more. The same can be said of the JOB Tennis. For more information on the Jr. Orange Bowl events as well as sponsor and volunteer opportunities, visit jrorangebowl.org.
Speaking of Basketball, the AutoNation Orange Bowl Basketball Classic is coming up Saturday, December 14, 2 p.m., at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise with two match ups: UCF versus Tulsa and FSU versus Tulane. To buy tickets, visit www.orangebowl.org. These are always great games!
As the end of the year approaches, many are looking for ways to make a positive impact. South Florida folks are among the most generous individuals you will ever encounter, and worthy charities could not do their outreach without you all. One such person, Iris Garcia, founded and funded The Women Voice Network that has a mission of economically empowering women who are victims of domestic abuse or human trafficking to live a life without fear. This nonprofit welcomes volunteers who can donate time to teach and/or mentor, share their talents or sponsor courses. The nonprofit’s board of directors met at VIVO at Dolphin Mall after the announcement of its launch of WVN’s Academy. Visit WVN Academy and explore a variety of courses now available in both English and Spanish, designed to empower its participants with essential skills for personal and professional growth. For every client buying a course, that same course will be donated to a survivor.
Participants will have their own personalized dashboard to keep track of their classes and achievements has expanded its curriculum to include even more courses, always offering them in Spanish and English to ensure accessibility for everyone in our community. Note that this is in conjunction with WVN’s live classes, providing participants with both online and real-time learning opportunities. Among those joining Iris for the board meeting were Arrisson Pierre, Nathalie Kanzki, Gloria Burns, Tracy Forgette, Henry Zaldivar, Ernesto Alvarez and Ruben Fuentes.
In other good news, a reunion of individuals helped during their teen years by the late Mirta S. Fuentes was held recently at the home of Norma Jean Abraham. Norma Jean managed to coordinate schedules and gather former mentees, now in their thirties, for dinner on Sunday, November 24. Norma shared with this writer her admiration for Fuentes, a Cuban immigrant who came to live in Miami after residing in Mexico, Spain and Washinton DC for years before here where she made an enormous impact. Mirta Fuentes first became involved with the Guardian Ad Litem program and served as Director of Child Affairs for 17 years. She continued her education at Barry receiving a BA in Liberal Studies.
She was later recognized as a Distinguished Alumni by Barry for her professional achievements, contributions to society and support for the university. Over the years Fuentes helped build Amigos for Kids and more recently began working with the Honey Shine Mentoring Program.
This dinner reunion was an inspired tribute to Mirta Fuentes and brought back lots of fond memories for all.
The calendar for 2025 is already filling up with great charitable fundraisers. Mark your calendars for Voices For Children’s 2025 Be a Voice Gala to be held at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental, Miami, On January 18, 2025. This year’s event, themed “Fostering Hope,” will celebrate our 40th anniversary and celebrate the impact they have made on the lives of children and youth in foster care. Voices For Children CEO Kadie Black advises that tickets for this “over the top” affair are going fast. For information, visit www.beavoice.org.
Until next time, share your time and talents, count your blessings, and make a difference.
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