Pine Island does care
To the Editor:
If you every had any doubt that Pine Island Cares, Saturday, June 20, shattered that doubt with the first annual “Pine Island Cares” event as neighbors gathered around the Beacon of HOPE parking lot and received a giant hug from the many organizations, charities and business owners who wrapped their arms around the community of Pine Island by giving of their money, donations of gifts and prizes and, most importantly, their time and talents. There were free raffles of cash gift cards, food and gas cards, auto care, hair care, dinners and pest control gift certificates, free ice cream, books, toys, stress management counseling and even swimming lessons and a one-year Pine Island Community Pool pass – all just given away during the event. Each neighbor who attended the event also received a goodie bag full of treats, coupons, literature of the local resources and businesses and the Hurricane Guide from the Beacon of HOPE explaining the Pine Island emergency hurricane evacuation plan.
Neighbors of Pine Island were seen gathered around the Beacon of HOPE building, surrounded by their community outreach representatives; fellowshipping together in music by Cindy Walsh and the band, Ground Zero; eating together free food lovingly prepared and distributed by Robert Hippert of Lee County Bicycle Ministry and his assistants; and offered support to those in need of food, housing, clothing, jobs, transportation, medical care and daily living support.
During the Pine Island Cares event, Lee County Bicycle Ministry gave away nearly 50 bicycles to children with stars in their eyes and smiles on their faces as they got to pick out a bicycle and have it custom-fitted to their size by Dave Axler of Pine Island Cycles Inc., who sat on site ready and willing to check the bicycles for safety and comfort.
The gift raffling became such an outpouring of generosity and good will, that one child who won a free bicycle offered to give his bicycle to another child less fortunate. After having his bicycle stolen and having to replace it with a new one, he asked to gift his winnings to a child who might not have a bicycle already. From this token of love, a chain of tokens were witnessed during the event, such as entertainer Cindy Walsh donating her entire tip jar of cash to the Beacon of HOPE, which sponsored the Pine Island Cares event. Sheri Dube of the Beacon also was seen guiding families and individuals who requested immediate help of job and work placement; handing out clothing, furnishings and toys for children from the store; and offering further assistance with applying for access for those families to receive Medicaid, food stamps, temporary cash aid and other support. Some raffle winners were even seen re-gifting their cash, food and gas cards to their less fortunate neighbors. These experiences and others alike were all tokens of love offered and received during the Pine Island Cares event.
The community of Pine Island joined hands with one another to create the Pine Island Cares event, lifted hands to work and assemble the event and extended their hands to serve their neighbors in need. These generous gifts of time, talent and service came from Lee County Parks and Recreation, Pine Island Library, Pine Island Printing, Matlacha Mariners, Matlacha Hookers, FISH, Pine Island Food Pantry, Lee County Bicycle Ministry, Pine Island Cycles, Tropical Hair Salon, Sutton Insurance, MPI Properties, Little Lilly’s Island Deli, Great Licks, Holiday Palm, Creative Coast Day Care, Pine Island Post Office, Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce, Pine Island Growers, Total Concept, The Moose Lodge 1954, The Women of the Moose 1843, Pine Island Elks, White House Plantation, Kiwanis Club of Greater Pine Island, CARES, CERT, Lee County Emergency Management, Matlacha-Pine Island Fire Department, Pine Island United Methodist Church, Stephen Ministries, Bootstrap Ministries, Pine Island Community Church, Winn-Dixie, Publix, Dairy Queen, Wachovia, Southwest Bank, Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way, Southwest Florida Workforce, Connie Mack’s office, Small Business Administration, Operation Open Arms and support from sister cities, Abundant Grace Fellowship of Fort Myers and A Life in Christ Church of Cape Coral. A special thank you to Linda and Tucker Cope for the use of the Beacon building and parking accommodations, Dr. Mauney for special permission to use the Island Professional building and all of the following individuals for your contributions:
Barbara Peckinpaugh, Wayne Reed, Tom Menssia, Bruce Riso, Beatrice Wayner, Andrea Cooper, Robin Lilly, Karen McKee, Karen Burns, Alice Leary, Nicole Lauber, Mary Ann Watson, Helen McCleary, Mickey Lewin, Suzann Pene, Sharon Bradley, Bonnie, Angelina, TJ, Pastor Heidi Grueser, Chris, Kevin, Bill Stoelker, Stephanie Platts, Bonnie Beers, Anna DeMeo, Michael Gordon, Sheri Dube, Rocky, Brent, John, Maggie, Aaron Foster, Jonathan Hernandez, Salvatore Cammilleri, Haulston Cammilleri, Sal Cammilleri Jr. and the many others that gifted in the wings.
The community leaders who created and supported the Pine Island Cares event would like to extend their gratitude and appreciation to all the vendors, organizations, businesses, private donors and volunteers who gave the gift of their hearts so that the needs of PIne Island neighbors could be noticed and met. Your giving of your “Paychecks of the Heart” met the financial commitment needed to bring the event to life, fed people at the event during the course of the day and helped to continue the effort to bring more light to the needs of Pine Island neighbors and families.
Our heartfelt thank you to all who served, all who gave and all who came to the Pine Island Cares event and we look forward to hugging everyone once again in the next Pine Island Cares event.
Christina Cooper-Foster Paolinnell
Pine Island Care