Can’t thank you enough
To the editor:
The ninth annual Pine Island Breast Cancer Benefit, Breast Fest 2010, held on Saturday, March 13, raised $46,800. We had a beautiful day for all the activities with over 400 men, women, children and dogs who came out for the 5K walk.
Here is a list of prize winners for this year: Teams that raised the most Sponsor Money: 1st Place – Team Palm , 2nd Place – Matlacha Hookers. Team with the most Walkers-St James City Exercise Class. Walkers that raised the most Sponsor Money:1st Place – Linda O’Brien, 2nd Place Kalyn Horney , 3rd Place was a Tie between Sherri Lazear and Dee Frost, 4th Place Marjorie Vanderkruik , 5th Place Stephanie Devonis. ‘From Our Hearts’, the organization that sponsors the event, would like to thank all that helped make this years event such a success. Starting with our corporate sponsors FOX 4 who gave us great publicity for the event. During the walk, thank you to Team Shevlin Mike Shevlin and Carlyn Herring from Century 21 Sunbelt Realty who provided our walker food and Pine Island Winn Dixie which provided fresh fruit for the walkers; Nicole from the Sandy Hook Restaurant who was our Walk announcer and provided our warm up exercises; Leoma Lovegrove of Lovegrove Gallery and Gardens who placed her painted pink rocks from the “Pink Rocks” memorial garden along the walk to honor those who have lost their battle to cancer; in addition to donating a 4 X 5 painting to the offices of Partners for Breast Cancer. Thank you to the St. James City Photo Club, the Hot Shots for providing commemorative photos for the walkers. Thank you to the following musicians, who continue to provide the high quality of entertainment that everyone has come to expect at Breast Fest: Brad Rodgers and Cindy Walsh who were there during the walk and the Pine Island Trio after the walk. During the afternoon we were entertained by Skinny Water – Dogfish – Soap Box – Me and the Boys – Cindy Walsh and the Shoreline Band – Scrambled – Burnt Out. Thank You to the local food vendors who continue to support us every year with their food selections and generous donations. The ladies from the Pine Island Community Church were there with their delicious baked goods and hot coffee and their youth group with their popcorn sales. The Lazy Flamingo who donates all their proceeds back to “From our Hearts” had a new lighter menu of Seafood Gumbo, Conch Salad and Smoked fish; JD and Gina from the Waterfront gave up their day off to make sure we had our favorite cold drinks. New to the lineup this year was the Low Key Tiki who also donated back 100 percent flippin burgers and dogs. And what Pine Island event would be complete without Jackie’s Gyro’s? Thank you to the Pine Island Community Church Youth Group who controlled the traffic and providing activities and prizes for the children all day.
Thank you to the local businesses who donated their services like; Honc Industries which provide our Dumpsters, Island Crab which offered the use of their cooler so we could have cold waters for the walk and Kibbie’s for providing plenty of ice for the day, Jackie’s Restaurant and Low Key Tiki for selling our raffle tickets; Sun Trust Bank, Lovegrove Gallery, and the Chamber for giving out our walk registration forms.
Thank you to the walkers who raised money through donations; the merchants and individuals that provided gift certificates, services and items that were given away as prizes or raffled to raise funds.
Last but by no means least, thank you to all the volunteers; not only those that attend our meetings all year long, but those who seem to come out of the wood work when Breast Fest time rolls around.
And my last thank you and apology to anyone who may have been left out of this letter. Our events are only made successful by the complete support of all the people mentioned.
Breast Fest is a yearly event that is held the second weekend of March. Mark your 2011 calendar to join us next year on March 12, to walk, donate, volunteer, or just come out and have a great time. For more information about our organization, visit our web site at www.fromourheart.org.
Sharon Kubik,
Secretary, From Our Hearts