Citing their appreciation for the quality of public schools in the Pinecrest/Palmetto Bay area, several of the community’s best-known business leaders have stepped in to support Palmetto High School students and programs through donations to the school’s PTSA Campaign for Excellence.
Contributors include FEMBI Mortgage Brokers, The Corradino Group, Tim Hasty of EWM, Prime Air & Ocean Cargo and Vega & Oprandi Wealth Partners – Ameriprise. Their generous donations will go toward the purchase of a $10,000 soundboard for the auditorium to replace the unreliable, 20-year-old soundboard.
Anna Hochkammer, Palmetto PTSA vice president and chair of the Campaign for Excellence committee, said they chose this project because it would benefit every student and parent at the school and could not be funded through the school capital bond initiative approved by voters in November 2012.
For Chris Buttafuoco of FEMBI, the choice to contribute to the Campaign for Excellence was simple.
“FEMBI is one of the largest privately held mortgage lenders in Florida, and our corporate headquarters is in Pinecrest,” he said. “Quite a few of us grew up here and our children are fortunate to attend Palmetto High School. We are proud to contribute to the Campaign for Excellence and help the children in the community that we serve.”
Buttafuoco’s sentiments were echoed by Roger Paredes, president of Prime Air & Ocean Cargo, who also has a child at Palmetto High.
“The most important thing any company can do is help its community educate kids,” he said. “It’s up to the community to make sure that the area high school has the technology it needs to be the best.”
In return for donations of $1,000 or more, businesses are recognized on the PTSA website, in weekly e-blasts and newsletters and on a dedicated banner placed on the school’s perimeter fence for 90 days.
For more information about the Campaign for Excellence, email donatecfe@gmail.com or call 305-335-7555.
