The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Mary Rathman

A chance to tell your neighborhood’s story

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Hillsborough County’s Office of Neighborhood Relations is now accepting applications for the 2021 Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program.

During this application period, the program features new project categories that are aimed at bringing neighbors together and boosting community pride.

The program provides up to $5,000 of funding for neighborhood organizations that want to strengthen and engage their communities through innovative and creative community projects.

The new categories are:

  • Neighborhood Identification
  • Leadership Empowerment
  • Safety Opportunities and Education
  • Environmental Enhancements
  • Health and Wellness Engagement
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Neighborhood and Community Innovation.

Applicants are encouraged to be innovative and original, and to select a project that is creative, engaging, enduring, and unites the community.

Neighborhood, civic, homeowner, and crime watch associations in Hillsborough County that are registered with the Hillsborough County Office of Neighborhood Relations are eligible to apply. That also includes the associations in Temple Terrace, Tampa and Plant City.

Prior to submitting an application, applicants are encouraged to participate in a min-grant training session webinar, which is a comprehensive review of the application, grant criteria and projects that qualify for the mini-grant. Organizers also must answer questions about the program.

Webinars will be announced at a later date, online at HCFLGov.net/Neighborhoods.

The deadline to apply for a mini-grant is at 5 p.m., Dec. 4.

Visit tinyurl.com/yybu9ddc for more on the grant application process, the requirements, and to complete the application.

For information, call the Office of Neighborhood Relations at (813) 272-5860.

Published October 21, 2020

Patch loves everyone!

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Patch is 14 ½ years old, and loves every human and animal. He has his own water dish, apart from his home’s other rescued cats, and it must be filled at all times. Patch was a rescue from Land O’ Lakes Animal Services at 12 weeks old. He likes to help to make the bed in his Zephyrhills home, with his human, Gracie Strope.

Black racers are active hunters

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Sharon Thompson, of Wesley Chapel, caught this black racer peering out of a bush, while she was taking a walk. These snakes are common in grasslands, open woodlands and suburban areas. The racer often is found near water where prey is plentiful. A lively daytime predator with excellent vision, it is plain to see how this speedy, agile snake got its name as it quickly hunts down frogs, rodents, lizards, fish, insects and other snakes.

Health News 10/21/2020

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Safety tips for trick or treating
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers these steps to take when trick or treating:

  • Avoid direct contact with trick-or-treaters, and keep your distance. Stay at least 6 feet away from others who do not live with you. Indoors and outdoors, it is more likely someone can get or spread COVID-19 when in close contact with others for a long time.
  • Give out treats outdoors, if possible.
  • Set up a station with individually bagged treats for kids to take.
  • Wash hands before handling treats. Bring hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol) with you and use it after touching objects or people. Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds when you get home and before you eat any treats.
  • Wear a mask: Make your cloth mask part of your costume. A costume mask is not a substitute for a cloth mask. Do not wear a costume mask over a cloth mask, as it can make breathing more difficult. Masks should not be worn by children under the age of 2 or by anyone who has difficulty breathing.

For more information, visit CDC.gov/coronavirus.

Hospital earns platinum recognition
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point has earned platinum-level recognition for its work and dedication in support of organ, eye and tissue donation and public health, while serving on the front lines against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between October 2019 and April 2020, Bayonet Point participated in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration’s Workplace Partnership for Life program.

The program challenged hospitals and health care organizations to team up with local organ procurement organizations, in this area LifeLink of Florida, to “let life bloom” by educating hospital staff, patients, visitors and surrounding communities about the critical need for organ, eye and tissue donation, and by offering the opportunity to register as a donor.

Bayonet Point worked with LifeLink of Florida, and during the campaign cycle was able to procure 151 donor registrations.

For information about the hospital campaign, visit OrganDonor.gov/hospitals.

For more on how to become an organ donor, visit DonateLifeFlorida.org.

Lutz makes fit city list
BarBend.com, a strength training resource and news outlet, has compiled a comprehensive list of the top fittest cities across Florida, according to a news release.

BarBend used data backed by studies based on a variety of factors that was combined to create an overall fitness score out of 100 for each city on the list.

Fitness factors in the study include exercise opportunities, access to healthy food, air pollution, drinking water violations, physical inactivity, obesity and smoking, among others.

Lutz emerged in the 264th position with an overall fitness score of 75.25.

The town was found to have a high rate of exercise opportunities at 920 (per 1,000 people), which suggests that the surrounding environment can play a key role in determining people’s fitness level.

Residents who live in neighborhoods with access to grocery stores where fresh fruit and vegetables are offered are more likely to have healthier diets.

The climate of Florida also creates a backdrop for outdoor pursuits, such as scenic trails and walks along the coast.

Additionally, Lutz was found to have comparatively low levels of air pollution, and low rates of physical inactivity, obesity and smoking.

To see the full list of Florida cities, visit BarBend.com/fit-cities-florida/.

Women’s services expanded
AdventHealth has signed an agreement to acquire Tampa Bay’s leading provider of comprehensive women’s services, Exodus Women’s Center, and its affiliated entities, according to an AdventHealth news release.

The agreement includes the purchase, or lease, of all 12 medical office locations in Hillsborough and Polk Counties, as well as an administrative office.

Clinical operations under AdventHealth are expected to begin in early 2021, and once final, all Exodus Women’s Center clinical locations will become part of the AdventHealth West Florida Division.

The West Florida Division continues to grow its network of care in response to the needs of the communities it serves.

The division also recently announced its partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center to expand cancer services in Wesley Chapel, and opened an outpatient imaging center and expanded physician locations in Brandon.

In addition, the AdventHealth West Florida Division network of care includes 10 hospitals, four freestanding emergency rooms, one long-term care facility, urgent care centers, express care clinics, mobile mammography services, hundreds of physician practices and a clinically integrated network.

Exodus Women’s Center has provided the community with women’s health care services since 1992, and specializes in low and high-risk obstetrics, gynecology, fertility, pediatric and adolescent gynecology, and menopause.

Chalk Talk 10/21/2020

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(Courtesy of Demaris Diaz, Pasco County Schools Student Services)

‘It takes a village’
Wiregrass Elementary School in Wesley Chapel was presented with a free 4K Ultra HD 50-inch television as part of a raffle through The Kiwanis Club of Greater Wesley Chapel. The partnership is part of a collaborative effort to work toward a better education and a better community, with a shared common goal to provide the best academic environment for scholars to succeed. From left: Wiregrass Elementary School Principal Steve Williams, Kiwanis Club representative Martha Vaguener, school social worker Damaris Diaz and Wiregrass Elementary School Assistant Principal Erin Ipock.

 

Student achievements
• Kennedy Deluca, of Odessa, has been awarded the Georgia Power Foundation Student Recruitment and Retention Fund Scholarship for the 2020-2021 academic year by Valdosta State University in Georgia.
• Emily M. Gerber, of Odessa, graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, with a bachelor degree. Gerber majored in conservation biology.

Think Big Tech Fest
Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) will host a Think Big Tech Festival on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m., to aid job growth/training for faculty, staff, students and community members.

The college is partnering with Innovation Collective, an education and human capital company, for the festival.

A team from Innovation Collective will visit PHSC’s North Campus in room B-104 for the hybrid event. Participants can sign up and attend in person, or via Zoom. A group of 40 people will be hosted by PHSC at the North Campus.

Featured speakers include Arabian Prince, NWA founder and entrepreneur; Giselle Mota, principal, Future of Work, ADP; Josh Childress, former NBA standout and founder, Landspire Group; Katerina Axelsson, founder and CEO, Tastry; Dr. Michael Hayduck, deputy director, Information Directorate, U.S. Air Force; and others.

Admission to the virtual event is free, and in-person tickets are $14.95 each.

To register for the virtual, streaming event, visit tinyurl.com/y5so38co.

For the in-person event, visit tinyurl.com/y677dmpo.

Free cleaning services for Pepin
Bio-Safe Surfaces and partner Pro Clean USA are providing free deep-cleaning and sanitization services for all three Pepin Academies’ campuses for the entire 2020-2021 school year.

Approximately 100 classrooms and common areas across Hillsborough and Pasco Counties’ campuses will be treated with BioShield, a nanotechnology treatment designed to protect against COVID-19 and other viruses.

The in-kind services provided by Bio-Safe and Pro Clean are in response to Pepin’s call for donations, as part of its inaugural Adopt-a-Classroom and Adopt-a-Student campaigns.

This added layer of defense against COVID-19 will work in tandem with the school’s existing daily sanitation partner, Gator Cleaning Solutions, whose team not only works to keep the campus safe, but also participates in Pepin Academies Transition Program job site.

The Transition Program combines vocationally based training with life and job readiness courses, and is designed for young adults ages 18 to 22 who have an identified learning or learning-related disability.

Kicks for Kids
The GFWC New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club has announced its Kicks for Kids campaign, to collect new children’s shoes and socks (toddler size 10 through adult men/women size 9), to benefit Mort Elementary School.

Teachers report that attendance increases when a child from an at-risk home has new shoes.

Children can focus on the lessons in school instead of focusing on their feet that hurt.

Proper shoes also help increase a child’s activity, which, in turn, helps to decrease childhood obesity and diabetes.

Throughout the month of October, the club will have a drop-off at the New Tampa YMCA, 16221 Compton Drive.

It the drop-off is not a convenient location, email , to set up a meeting place. Monetary donations also will be accepted using PayPal.

State college gets grant
Pasco-Hernando State College has been awarded a $449,311 grant through the CARES Act Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Rapid Credentialing Program.

The joint venture with the Florida Department of Education as a new workforce education initiative is to raise awareness of short-term career and technical education programs.

The rapid-credentialing programs will provide Floridians the opportunity to complete curriculum in 18 weeks or less, aiding in accelerated recovery for residents and the economy.

The college will use the grant to launch training in the areas of manufacturing, welding, health, informational technology/cybersecurity/ unmanned vehicles/drones, real estate, and more.

The school also will award scholarship opportunities to cover tuition and materials for qualified applicants.

For information on PHSC’s rapid credentialing grant, programs or courses, email Marcia Austin at .

New specialty plate to support Florida 4-H

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Vouchers for a new specialty license plate bearing the iconic 4-H clover will be available for purchase at all county tax collector offices and license plate agencies in Florida, starting Oct. 16.

The license plate will go into production once 3,000 pre-sale vouchers have been sold. Florida 4-H has two years to reach the pre-sale goal. The voucher, which includes the $25 specialty plate fee plus processing fees, is a total of $33.

A new 4-H specialty tag will help to support the youth development program designed for ages 5 to 18. (Courtesy of University of Florida, UF/IFAS Communications)

One-hundred percent of the $25 specialty license plate fee will go directly toward statewide leadership programs such as 4-H University and 4-H Legislature, the Florida 4-H camping program and 4-H youth competitive teams, Michael Gutter, associate dean of the UF/IFAS Extension and 4-H state program leader, said in a UF/IFAS news release.

“Here is a chance to show off your 4-H pride while also supporting today’s and tomorrow’s youth,” Gutter said.

“We are calling on all 4-H members, supporters and alumni to help us reach our goal of 3,000 vouchers sold so we can see the 4-H plate on vehicles across Florida,” he added.

The youth development program is part of the land-grant university system and Cooperative Extension System.

The program provides hands-on educational activities and experiences for youth ages 5 to 18, with the objective of developing youth as individuals, and as responsible and productive citizens.

In Florida, 4-H is administered by University of Florida/IFAS Extension and Florida A&M University, and serves approximately 200,000 youth annually.

Published October 14, 2020

Be an ‘elf’ to someone often forgotten

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With the holidays quickly approaching, Aging Solutions Inc., once again is hosting its Elves for Elders Gift Drive, to benefit the individuals it serves.

Aging Solutions Inc., the Office of the Public Guardian, was established to provide guardianship and advocacy for individuals who legally have been found to be incapacitated, according to information on Aging-Solutions.org’s website.

The nonprofit organization, appointed by the court, “provides services throughout Central Florida to individuals with developmental disabilities, frail elderly, veterans, those who suffer from chronic mental illness, and those who suffer from progressive cognitive loss due to dementia or other neurological disorders, and traumatic brain injuries,” the website says.

Some of these individuals rely on family for their care. Others become wards of the Court, and must depend on a guardian to watch over their personal, medical and financial needs.

The wards live in skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities or group home settings. Florida Medicaid laws only allow the wards to keep a small monthly allowance of any Social Security, pension or other income they receive, and this money is used to purchase toiletries, undergarments, clothing or anything else they may want or need.

That’s why presents provided through the Elves for Elders are especially appreciated, and

Aging Solutions hopes that people will open their hearts to these often-forgotten individuals.

Participation is simple: Visit Aging-Solutions.org and click on the Elves for Elders link. Then, choose a county wish list to see the names of the wards along with their individual requests. Items that have been requested include T-shirts, pants, slippers, toiletries, candy, games and more.

Select an item or items from the list to buy, purchase a gift card, make a cash donation, or do all three. Call (866) 922-4464 for instructions as to where to drop off your gift. All donations are tax deductible.

Published October 14, 2020

Summit focuses on efforts to end hunger

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The 2020 Sunshine Summit to End Hunger, presented by the Tampa Bay Network to End Hunger in partnership with Bread for the World and Florida Impact, will be hosted virtually for the first time ever, according to a news release.

The 10th annual event is slated to take place Oct. 29 and Oct. 30 from 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST), each day, and will act as a forum for participants to learn, share and network while exploring the best practices in solving hunger.

This year’s theme is “Global Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Local Effects on Emergency Feeding Efforts.”

Sessions will be locally, nationally and internationally focused on the experiences of families struggling with food insecurity, and different response programs and techniques.

The keynote speakers will be Feeding India’s founder Ankit Kawatra and co-founder Srishti Jain, who will provide an international perspective on how Feeding India responded to feed their communities during COVID-19.

“We’re excited to be working with local leaders and those from across the globe to promote not only an end to hunger, but to food insecurity and food insufficiency, for a healthy lifestyle,” Caitlyn Peacock, executive director of Tampa Bay Network to End Hunger, said in the release.

“The network works to build a hunger-free community with access to nutritious food for all,” Peacock commented.

Registration for the summit is free.

For a complete agenda and list of speakers, and to register, visit NetworkToEndHunger.org/sseh.

Published October 14, 2020

Soaring high above

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Nicole Magazu snapped a shot of this swallow-tailed kite over her house in Land O’ Lakes. She and her husband, Frank, enjoyed watching the bird’s graceful flight. Kites spend most of their time in the air, capturing and swallowing their food as they fly.

Health News 10/14/2020

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Community supports the Lighthouse
Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano’s five offices collected donations totaling $4,007.43, in support of the Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired & Blind.

From left: Janet Oroz, Carlton Francis, Katrina Koscielniak, Sharlo Ward, Samantha Bisconti and Tammy Dziedzic, staff of tax collector’s Land O’ Lakes branch; and Jonathan Fister, CEO of the Lighthouse. (Courtesy of Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office)

The Lighthouse’s mission is to educate, empower and employ people who are visually impaired and blind. The organization’s services are provided at no cost to program participants, and all donations received help to provide more services to more people in need.

“We are so grateful for the support of the Pasco Tax Collector during these uncertain times,” Jonathan Fister, CEO of the Lighthouse, said in a news release.

“Thank you for serving the Lighthouse and for being a champion in the community,” Fister commented.

Fasano said, in the release, “The need for vision services is something we tend to think about only if we have a personal connection to the issue. That is what makes our Charity of the Month program so wonderful. We are able to help individuals who often are not thought of in the day-to-day bustle of life, especially during a time when COVID consumes so much of our waking moments.”

For information on the charitable programs, contact Greg Giordano, assistant tax collector, at (727) 847-8179, or visit PascoTaxes.com.

For more on the Lighthouse, call Patricia Porter, director of grants, donations and media, at (813) 713-2492.

Taking care of veterans
The GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s club delivered a check in the amount of $1,625 to Operation Patriot officers Ken Escobio and Sharon Richmond, to be used for the benefit of the residents of the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans Nursing Home in Land O’ Lakes.

The funds are earmarked for the veteran residents’ personal needs and treats, which are not covered by their modest pensions.

Operation Patriot will distribute the funds to the veterans.

For information on the woman’s club, visit GFWCLutzLandOLakesWomansClub.com.