Showing posts with label Sanford FL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sanford FL. Show all posts

Monday, September 29, 2014

Honor Flight Veterans Greeted by Crowd at Sanford Airport

War vets return from Honor Flight to D.C.
13 News Orlando
September 28, 2014

ORLANDO
War veterans got a warm welcome-back Saturday night from loved ones.

The community gathered at the Orlando Sanford International Airport to greet the vets as they returned from Washington.

The vets were on an all day trip on Honor Flight; where the goal is to honor America's veterans for their sacrifices.

They are taken to Washington D.C. to visit their memorials.
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Saturday, November 16, 2013

Pay It Forward Project Military Appreciation

Rockets
Today at the American Legion in Sanford Florida, veterans got a real treat with this group of young men and their drums. Military Appreciation Day -- Sat. Nov 16 at American Legion Post #53. To honor those who sacrifice so much, ask so little, and deserve so much more than we can ever repay. Veterans of all ages welcomed along with their families. Bounce house, contests, award, Color Guard ceremony, Honor Flight attendees, and Food! Sponsored by Pay It Forward Project, FAACES, Candlelight Catering.


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Stressed out volunteers for veterans need Stand Down too!

Stressed out volunteers for veterans need Stand Down too!
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
May 18, 2013

The first post today is about 5 hours late because I just got back from the Sanford Stand Down for veterans. The wonderful thing is there were more volunteers than veteran needing help, so no one had to wait. For volunteers, that was also the bad part.

The area I was assigned to didn't have many veterans needing their services, so there was plenty of time to talk to other volunteers. Most of us felt the same way. We were there to help veterans because we not only care, most of us have a personally connection, either as veterans or family members.

We talked about our lives, joys and struggles. That is the reason for this post before I check the rest of my emails and go take a nap. I've been up since 5:00.

As I watched the veterans get matched with a Battle Buddy they were given something good to eat for breakfast, shown where to go for what they needed, taken to where the showers were and get a hair cut along with clean clothes, boots and some personal needs items, all donated by caring groups and businesses.

These veterans went from feeling as if no one cared to feeling as if they belonged and mattered. The expressions on their faces lifted as their mood did. The volunteers were smiling just knowing that they made the difference.

My mood changed too. I started the day out in a bad mood feeling as if I had one of the worst jobs in the world because with a 70 hour week, my bank account if pretty much empty already and month is only half over. I had to worry about having enough gas in my car to get me to the Stand Down and back. In other words, totally feeling sorry for myself even though I have a nice house, a car, food to eat and clothes to wear.

Then I was looking at the line of volunteers also managing to get up before the sun to show up and help someone else expecting nothing in return other than to do for the sake of someone else.

We talked about what they did in their lives and what their hopes and dreams were. One young man was an Air Force veteran and he was there to volunteer because a lot of his buddies knew what it was like to feel abandoned. A volunteer did it because her husband is a veteran and another one never thought of doing anything else but helping veterans.

These people are truly remarkable. The time they put in is as fabulous as the love they feel.

They totally changed my mood and I felt blessed just to meet them. It also reenforced the fact that helpers are the last people to ask for help. It happens all the time. When you are "doer" it is hard to become the person someone else does for.

When I talked to the Air Force Veteran, we were talking about the most stressful jobs. He said top of the list are enlisted personnel and then brass because they had to be the ones to give the orders that could mean life or death. Then Police Officers, Firefighters and emergency responders.

I asked him if he knew what was even more stressful but often goes unnoticed. I told him it was the ones who care for all of the above.

We tend to be the most stressed and because of that, burn out fast unless we also have support behind us. I happen to have a lot of people I can (and often do) call on for emotional support. All of us need that. Sure we need financial support so we can keep a roof over our own heads, food in our bellies and gas in our tanks to get us from one place to another but those needs are obvious.

We need our own support team showing up to be our Battle Buddies when we get lost, worn out and torn down so we can get back to what we do best but as hard as it is to ask for help, it is harder for other people to even think about our need to be helped.

Because of what I do and the events I travel to, I've seen all kinds of groups all dedicated to veterans and most of them do not receive enough support financially or emotionally. There needs to be a Stand Down for us. A place where we can be fed and taken care of even for just a little while, where we know we do matter and someone cares.

To have someone ask us what we need and then help us find it instead of just assuming we don't need anything. I once had a business man say to someone about me that "She's always asking for help and if she was any good, she would get what she needs." pretty much the same way some people see a homeless veteran and just assume they want to be homeless and "get handouts" so they just ignore them. (Yep people still think that way.) But I am not unique. All the volunteers I talked to this morning are going through the same things. Stress! Stress of knowing what we do matters but not having anything to help us do it. Stress of doing what we do knowing how great the need is while no one seems to notice how great our own needs are.

Smarter heads out there in Orange and Seminole County Florida need to figure out a way to start taking care of the doers or we'll end up joining those in need waiting for someone to help us but there won't be anyone there.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Ramstein Air Base students "hoodie up" for Trayvon Martin

Ramstein students put on their hoodies for Trayvon Martin
By JENNIFER H. SVAN
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 3, 2012

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — In a show of solidarity for slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, more than 230 students at Ramstein High School wore hooded sweatshirts or jackets to class Tuesday as part of a peaceful demonstration they called “Hoodies Up.”

 The intent was to show that wearing a hoodie should not make a person appear threatening, said 17-year-old senior Caleb Guerrido, one of five students who came up with the idea of wearing hoodies to school. 

Martin, 17, was shot Feb. 26 by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman as he walked back to the townhouse of his father’s girlfriend in the gated community of Sanford. Zimmerman, 28, told police that Martin, who was unarmed, was wearing a dark hoodie and looked “suspicious.” He claimed that when he questioned Martin, the teen jumped him and that he shot him in self defense.
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Monday, January 3, 2011

Police Chief forced out after Sanford police officer's son hit homeless man

Sanford police chief forced out the same day cop's son goes to jail, accused of attacking homeless man

By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
5:13 p.m. EST, January 3, 2011


There's a new casualty in the case of a Sanford police officer's son who threw a sucker punch that floored a homeless man: retiring Police Chief Brian Tooley.

Sanford's City Commission voted Monday to dismiss Tooley.

He was scheduled to retire Jan. 31, but at a special meeting, commissioners voted to oust him immediately.

As of Tuesday, the department will be headed temporarily by former chief Steve Harriett, who currently works as chief deputy at the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.

Also Monday morning, Acting Chief Capt. Jerry Hargrett admitted at a public meeting that the officer's son, Justin Collison, 21, should have been arrested a month ago, the night he punched the homeless man. Sanford police questioned Collison, put him in the back of a patrol car but did not handcuff or arrest him.

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Sanford police chief forced out

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sanford woman dies returning from motorcycle rally

Sanford woman dies returning from motorcycle rally

The Associated Press

10:19 p.m. EDT, August 12, 2009


COLUMBIA, Mo. - A Central Florida woman heading home from a South Dakota motorcycle rally has died in a crash on Interstate 70 in Missouri.

Columbia, Mo., police said Evonne Manner-Wilson, 49, of Sanford was one of 13 people in a van that veered off eastbound I-70, struck a median post and flipped over about 7 a.m. Wednesday.
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Sanford woman dies returning from motorcycle rally

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Sanford woman settles lawsuit in flesh-eating-bacteria case

Sanford woman settles lawsuit in flesh-eating-bacteria case
Rene Stutzman Sentinel Staff Writer
6:51 PM EDT, May 18, 2009
SANFORD - The mother who entered a Longwood maternity ward, delivered a healthy baby boy and suddenly became so sick with flesh-eating bacteria that doctors wound up amputating both arms and legs has settled her lawsuit against the hospital.

Claudia Mejia Edwards of Sanford, will receive an undisclosed sum from Orlando Regional Healthcare System Inc., now called Orlando Health, according to court records. So will the baby she delivered, Matthew Edwards, 4, and her older son, Jorge Mejia Valle, a fifth grader.

The amount is a secret, said her attorney, Ron Gilbert. Hospital company Jennings L. Hurt III on Monday confirmed the settlement but declined comment.

Mejia, 27, was admitted to Orlando Regional South Seminole Hospital in Longwood on April 28, 2005, and that morning delivered a healthy boy, Matthew.


Over the next few hours, she developed a rash, fever, chills and other symptoms, according to her suit. The next day, she was in extreme pain, but the hospital tried to discharge her, according to the suit. Her husband, Timothy B. Edwards, refused to leave.

The day after that, doctors performed exploratory surgery and discovered gangrene in her belly.

She was transferred to Orlando Regional Medical Center, but her condition worsened. She went into shock, lost consciousness and her kidneys began to shut down.

Doctors eventually concluded her body was being ravaged by flesh-eating bacteria, also known as Group A Streptococcal infection. They amputated all four limbs, hoping to save her life.
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Sanford woman settles lawsuit in flesh-eating-bacteria case

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Mother and son found dead in RV park because of buzzards

This is so sad but seems to happen a lot as families drift apart.

Mother and son found dead in RV park 'kept to themselves'
Gary Taylor Sentinel Staff Writer
10:17 AM EDT, April 21, 2009

It was common to see "Joe' and his elderly mother coming and going from their motor home in the Town & Country RV Resort west of Sanford. But when the only movement around their Winnebago was a flock of buzzards, Michael Jess knew something was wrong.

Monday evening Jess asked a friend to check on the couple. That friend knocked on the door, which was partially open, and then called inside. A park manager was called and discovered the two decomposing bodies inside.

Seminole County Sheriff's investigators hope autopsies that are under way this morning will determine how the two died as well as confirm their identities.
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Mother and son found dead in RV park 'kept to themselves'

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Teen's plea for homeless brings season's bounty

Teen's plea for homeless brings season's bounty

Mark Pino Sentinel Staff Writer
December 24, 2008
Will Webster's idea seemed modest: leave fliers and bags with 200 of his Heathrow neighbors with a holiday plea for food and toys for the homeless.

His neighbors' generosity exceeded the 13-year-old's expectations.

Tuesday he delivered about 400 pounds of food and $500 worth of toys to the Rescue Outreach Mission of Sanford, which is a block away from Sanford Middle School, where he is an eighth-grader.

"I was pretty overwhelmed," he said. "It says a lot. This is going to make a huge difference. I feel like it will make a lot of kids and families happy for Christmas."
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Friday, August 29, 2008

Gators run wild in Sanford FL after Tropical Storm Fay

Invasion! Critters run wild in Central Florida after Fay
Flooding has turned wildlife habitats upside down, sending critters outside their typical territories. In the process, humans are having unpleasant -- and sometimes deadly -- encounters with the natural world.


Nuisance-gator trapper Jerry Flynn has four alligators in his truck in Sanford. (Jacob Langston, Orlando Sentinel)

Thursday, July 31, 2008

After outcry, event to help Sanford's homeless moved to Longwood

After outcry, event to help Sanford's homeless moved to Longwood
Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
July 31, 2008
First, Sanford officials decided they didn't want 200 homeless people flocking downtown for a daylong event that would offer them medical care, showers, meals, employment counseling and identification.

Then the city's mayor showed up Wednesday at the rescheduled event -- moved to Longwood's Northland church -- to show her support.

A mixed message?

"We're not really evil, mean and wicked," said Sanford Mayor Linda Kuhn, who, at the urging of the City Council, had asked if the event could be relocated. "I believe in what they're doing."
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-homeless31x08jul31,0,5971031.story

Friday, July 11, 2008

Community prays for victims during vigil at fatal crash site

Community prays for victims during vigil at fatal crash site

By JULIE MURPHY
Staff Writer

SANFORD -- The vacant lot where Pete and Millie Dechat's house stood became a temple for fellowship Thursday and, in the shade of the neighboring house, a refuge from the July heat one year after a plane crash at the site killed five people, including 4-year-old Gabriela Dechat.

Before a candlelight vigil began at 6:30 p.m., Joe Woodard -- whose home also was destroyed by the crash -- took family and friends through the shell of the house he is rebuilding. His wife, Janise, 24, and 6-month old, JoSiah, were home when the Cessna crashed into it and died.

Woodard is rebuilding his life in the community that has seen him through hardship.

"Every block that goes up is a step closer," he said.

Michael Klemm piloted the plane for NASCAR Aviation. Dr. Bruce Kennedy, the husband of Lesa France Kennedy, president of International Speedway Corp., was his passenger. Neither man survived the fire in the cockpit and the accident that followed.

The Dechats were parishioners of the Sanford Alliance Church and friends of Pastor Roger Thomas, who led the vigil.

Pete Dechat, stepson Danny Happy, daughter Gabriela and wife Millie Dechat were home when the plane hit.

"The great miracle is with Pete and Danny," Pastor Thomas said as friends, family, neighbors and firefighters gathered in the street. "To me, they were burnt to death but survived. It was a 136 percent chance that Pete would not make it, and a 104 percent chance that Danny wouldn't."

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