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The Third Annual Blooming Luau

May 17, 2012 By 308 Comments

The Third Annual Blooming Luau was a great success again this year

We would like to thank Tom Lyons, owner of Beso Del Sol, Dave Dawson manager and the entire staff for their efforts. Marker 8 manager Russ Latimer and Tom Gusman, manager of The Venue restaurant for their time and the incredible venue for an event. The delicious food was provided free by Leroy Selmons, Margarites and Serendipity Cafe, Costco furnished water and desserts. Of course, The Black Honkeys who never disappoint were the heros of the day, getting the crowd to donate over $600 by passing the hat (numerous times). BPFK was very fortunate to have so many businesses and individuals donate auction items which raised enough money to send 20 foster children to camp this summer. If you would like to help please go to www.bloomingplaceforkids.org to donate and if you missed the fun this year, we will do again next year!

Photography: Kristen Esposito

Photography: Kristen Esposito

Photography: Kristen Esposito

Photography: Kristen Esposito

Filed Under: 2012, Events, May/June 2012 - Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Junior League of Clearwater-Dunedin Presents – The 48th Annual Art Harvest

September 18, 2011 By 769 Comments
Herbert Scott Davis - Art Harvest

Paintings by Herbert Scott Davis

The 48th annual Art Harvest will take place on Saturday and Sunday, November 5 and 6 at Highlander Park in Dunedin. Art Harvest is a fine art festival featuring over 200 artists from around the country, produced by the Junior League of Clearwater-Dunedin, Inc.

This year’s Featured Artist is Herbert Scott Davis. He was born in Tampa Florida in 1961 and raised in Ybor City. The neighborhood mixed with culture and art, and rich in color, texture and style helped spark his artistic interest. Herbert earned his Marketing and Design degree at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. Upon returning to Tampa he began a career in advertising, working as a freelance illustrator for many local agencies. As computer technology began to change the advertising industry, Herbert began to shift his interest towards fine art, his first love.

His pastels have a level of uniqueness that is not often seen in the art world today. Created only with overlapping line work, they expose the simple nuances of the human figure in glowing tones of flowing color. His acrylic paintings are rich with texture and color that invite the viewer to reach out and touch the artwork. “This inter-action with the art is a welcome site” the artist says.

Art Harvest admission is free. Parking is $5 at Highlander Park and $3 at the nearby Dunedin High School with an approx. ½ mile walk or free shuttle service to Highlander Park provided by Morton Plant Mease. There are food and beverage vendors on site, as well as a children’s tent with art projects provided for supervised children.

Sponsors to date include: Publix Super Market Charities, Bright House Networks, St. Petersburg Times, Panache Vue’ Magazine, Tampa Bay Magazine, Morton Plant Mease, ClearChannel and T Rowe Price. For more information, call the Junior League of Clearwater-Dunedin’s Headquarters at 727-738-5523.

Celebrating over 60 years in Pinellas County, the Junior League of Clearwater-Dunedin has raised over 1.5 million dollars and contributed more than 1 million volunteer hours to the community. All proceeds from this event are reinvested into the community and have helped fund notable projects such as the Dunedin Fine Arts Center, UPARC Foundation, The Rick Pitino High Point Center, and the F.U.N. Bus, which has provided field trip transportation for over 50,000 area public school children. Currently, the League’s focus is on public awareness and support of the foster care system and the aging out of 13-22 year old children in Pinellas and Pasco Counties.

JLCD Office Number 727-738-5523
Sponsorship Opportunities available Contact
Courtney Pagliari 727-459-6509
Website 

Filed Under: 2011, 2011, Culture & Arts, Events, North Pinellas / Pasco, Philanthropy, September/October 2011 - North Pinellas/Pasco, September/October 2011 - Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WOGO Continues To Accomplish Miraculous Missions, Locally and Worldwide

July 15, 2011 By 43 Comments
Dr. Jennifer Cook with 2010 WOGO Mission Volunteer Team in Kathmandu, Nepal

Dr. Jennifer Cook with 2010 WOGO Mission Volunteer Team in Kathmandu, Nepal

WOGO has recently partnered with the Perry Initiative www.perryinitiative.org. The Perry Initiative is committed to inspiring young women to be leaders in the exciting fields of Orthopaedic Surgery and Engineering.

This year WOGO will be hosting a program for local high school students on October 15 at Community Hospital in New Port Richey, FL. [Applications]. The Perry Outreach Program Curriculum has been shown to increase self-confidence in young women’s abilities in science and medicine.

Another new partnership for WOGO is a non-profit organization, called Soles 4 Souls. In an effort to expand their global outreach as they move forward, Soles 4 Souls collects shoes from donors, many of which come from large shoe manufacturers’ excess inventory, and then distributes them to worthy recipients.  The organization has recently taken great interest in WOGO’s efforts to aid not only the patients they treat, but also, enrich the community they visit.

This year WOGO has adopted an elementary school adjacent to the hospital in Guatemala. WOGO has donated 20 computers to the school, and the team surgeons have come together to hire the school a full time computer teacher.  In addition, they have outfitted the school with webcams so that they communicate with a sister elementary school in North Carolina. On the pre surgical trip the surgeons realized that the school’s playground was extremely run down and most of the children did not own proper shoes for exercise. The team will be reconstructing the playground in September. However, without shoes the children would be unable to take advantage of the new playground.

The computers that WOGO donated are destined for delivery to the Urban School for Girls No. 1 “Pedro Bethancourth” in La Antigua, Guatemala, in conjunction with the WOGO surgical mission to Guatemala this September. Each computer is installed with the Ubuntu open source operating system, the Open Office Suite, and Firefox web browser – all running in the Guatemalan dialect of Spanish.

In addition to thanking MITRE, WOGO would also like to acknowledge the work of Dr. Craig M. Cook of Great Falls, Virginia, in providing technical and logistical support in obtaining, outfitting, and refurbishing the computers. This was truly a team effort, and WOGO is pleased to be able to expand its endeavors in this new direction.

To learn more about WOGO and how you can help, please visit www.WOGO.org

Filed Under: 2011, 2011, July/August 2011 - North Pinellas/Pasco, July/August 2011 - Tampa Bay, Philanthropy, Tampa Bay Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Home is Where the Heart is

July 14, 2011 By 26 Comments
Shelton Quarles' IMPACT Foundation

Shelton Quarles makes an IMPACT

The mission of Shelton Quarles’ IMPACT Foundation is to provide resources and opportunities to at-risk single parent families throughout the Tampa Bay area.  The signature program of Shelton Quarles’ IMPACT Foundation is Home Blitz. At-risk single-mom families are selected each spring to receive a complete home makeover, including more energy efficient updates. The families are sent away on vacation as their houses are transformed, including new furniture, interior design expertise from Studio M and household items and accessories.

Since 2004, Shelton Quarles’ charitable efforts have raised over $600,000, and provided assistance to at-risk single parent families throughout the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, please visit www.sheltonquarles.org.

Filed Under: 2011, 2011, July 2011 - South Tampa, July 2011 - Tampa Bay, Philanthropy, South Tampa, Tampa Bay Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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