Three students were honored as “Do The Right Thing” award recipients for their good deeds. Command staff with the Cape Coral Police Department’s Community Services Bureau visited the students’ schools to present them with their awards.
Sisters Aliyah and Makila Perez collected over 50 unwrapped toys and donated them to the Toys for Tots toy drive.
Both attend Trafalgar Elementary School, Aliyah in first grade and Makila in fourth grade.
Jackson Lemmerman is an eighth grader at Trafalgar Middle School.
He located a cell phone in the middle of the road, retrieved it, then tracked down the rightful owner of the phone and returned it.
Please join us in congratulating these three fine students who chose to “Do The Right Thing.”
Solomon Edwards is a seventh grader at Saint Andrew Catholic School. Solomon finds ways to give back to our community. What makes Solomon’s efforts unique is he is a distance learner.
Solomon has adopted a road through the City of Cape Coral. He and his family maintain the roadway by picking up trash weekly.
Solomon also collects donations of pet supplies for the Gulf Coast Humane Society. He created flyers and signs to post on the collection boxes. The boxes were placed at his mother’s work. Solomon was able to donate over 60 items to the Gulf Coast Humane Society.
Solomon was recognized for his selfless service to his community with the Cape Coral Police Department’s Do The Right Thing Award.
Better Together, a voluntary, community-driven alternative to foster care, has introduced the Hopeful 100 Club to encourage monthly recurring gifts of $100 that cover the costs of keeping a child out of foster care and families together.
Since March, Better Together has seen a 155% increase in requests for help through its Better Families program, a voluntary alternative to foster care that hosts children short-term while mentoring parents through crisis.
“It costs an average of $30,000 per year in taxpayer dollars to keep a child in foster care,” said Megan Rose, CEO, Better Together.
“The alternative is donating $100 per month to cover the cost of providing a child with a safe and caring temporary home while parents work towards reunification. Despite challenges, Better Together has remained fully operational throughout the pandemic. With your support, children can wake up with their parents on Christmas morning rather than in foster care.”
Better Together Hopeful 100 Club Donor Jason Maughan
With a small crew of seven full-time staff, Better Together has leveraged the support of hundreds of local volunteers to serve every single family that asked for help.
“We have not turned a single child away,” added Rose.
Better Together is 100% privately funded and community driven, and has served over 2,500 children in Southwest Florida and kept 96% of families together. The nonprofit was founded on the belief that loving parents should not lose children because they are having money problems, or had the courage to seek treatment, or got hospitalized without childcare. These challenges can be overcome with the right support system in place.
Tony Sizemore, Deputy Police Chief and head of the Cape Coral Police Athletic League, keeps kids out of trouble through a strong sports program, positive mentoring, and personal development training.
Through the generosity of individual donors, Cape Foundation is awarding $4,500 to build healthy lifestyles and positive relationships between Police Officers and the youth of Cape Coral by connecting kids to programs and opportunities that exist in the community.
For Tony Sizemore, who is a Deputy Chief for the Cape Coral Police Department, the success of the program is tied to personal connections, mentoring and relationship building that benefits the young athletes who are in the program.
“I’m just a local guy trying to do right by my hometown,” said Sizemore, who grew up in the Cape, graduated from Mariner High School and Hodges University and lists football, baseball and track and field as sports he participated in.
“We are looking to identify kids in the community who need an outlet or an activity or a sport to get involved with. What we try to do is connect them,” continued Sizemore.
The PAL program is tapping into the strong youth sports foundation that already exists in the Cape.
“We support our local police department. We are a blessed community, and we value the work our police department is doing to support kids by giving them something to strive for and keep them on a positive path, said Michael Chatman, President & CEO, Cape Coral Community Foundation.” I cherish the relationship I have personally built withTony Sizemore and his dedicated team of volunteers.”
The Cape Coral Community Foundation staff, Board of Directors and donors congratulate the Cape Coral Police Athletic League for receiving the $4,500 gift from two anonymous donors who support their vision and mission.
On Sunday May 10, 2020 at 12 pm, local public safety departments participated in a First Responder Lights and Siren Parade for Selena.
Selena is an 11-year-old girl who is a huge supporter of all first responders. Over the years, Selena has given thank you cards, flags, prayer cards and had a toy station for law enforcement officers to have in their departments. The toy stations were stocked with toys to give children who were affected by crime to help ease their pain.
Members of the Cape Coral Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department and Lee County Sheriff’s Office gave a very special girl named a lights and sirens parade and thanked her for always supporting our first responders on her ‘Gotcha Day”.
The School District of Lee County is beginning distance learning for students on Monday, March 30th.
We need the community’s assistance in spreading the word. We are asking that you share this information with your family, friends, and neighbors within the community.
Families with internet access should contact their child’s school to pick up a Chromebook (computer) by this Friday, March 27th. Only one Chromebook (computer) per household will be issued.
