ReportWire

Tag: Florida Inspires

  • Pinellas military family serving vets during Season of Giving

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Pinellas County military family has dedicated their lives to service.

    The family patriarch, a World War II U.S. Navy veteran living at a Bay Pines VA assisted living facility, inspired his family to give back.

    What You Need To Know

    • Mr. Harlan Springer served in World War II in the U.S. Navy

    • He now lives at the Bay Pines VA Community Living Center

    • He has inspired multiple generations of his family to give back and serve other veterans like him at Bay Pines


    At 99 years old, Mr. Harlan Springer has lived a remarkable life.

    “I’m thankful for being here because I never expected to live this long,” said Springer.

    Like many of his greatest generation peers, they have many remarkable stories to tell.

    Springer recalled when he enlisted in the Navy during the war, and it was him “having two brothers and a friend in there” that was not about to keep him home.

    The Veterans Health Administration produced a video of Springer documenting time in service.

    Springer was stationed on a destroyer vessel of a carrier fleet in the Pacific theatre of the war. Now, he lives at the Bay Pines VA Community Living Center in St. Petersburg.

    Spectrum Bay News 9 sat down with Springer to learn more about his life story and legacy, like the remarkable date he joined the war.

    “You see, it was June the sixth of 1944, and many years later I found out it was D-Day,” said Springer.

    Stories like Springer’s inspired generations after him, especially hitting closer to home.

    Chelbie Harrison is Springer’s great-granddaughter, and helped push Springer in his wheelchair around the facility for his daily stroll.

    “It’s very often, his name will pop up on the screen, and then my great-grandpa is ready to be picked up,” said Harrison.

    Harrison works at Bay Pines VA as a nursing assistant.

    “I get to see how his day is going and get to tell him about mine,” she said. “And I get to tell him about the newest things happening with his great-great-grands, who he always enjoys hearing about, right, Grandpa?”

    “Oh, yes!” responded Springer excitedly.

    While Cole Long, Harrison’s brother or Springer’s great grandson, is also making the rounds at Bay Pines as a registered nurse.

    Their mom, Christine Long or Springer’s granddaughter, also works at Bay Pines VA.

    Every year she works to organize and participates in the Adopt-a-Veteran program.

    Over the years the combined family has supported hundreds of military families to celebrate the holiday season.

    All three family members are immensely proud of the service they provide, and said they are inspired by their remarkable grandfather and his friends at the VA.

    “I take pride in being able to give back and take care of the veterans who took care of us and fought with their lives to have our freedoms,” said Harrison.

    “They’ve been through a lot so it’s nice to give back to them,” said Cole. “It’s rewarding.”

    As for Springer, it is another Christmas he is celebrating and even crafting gifts for the youngest of the generations, his great-great-grandkids.

    And he is looking forward to another milestone for the holidays.

    “You know I’m 99 and I understand I got a one percent chance to make it to 100…so statistically,” he said. “But I’m going to do it, I’ve decided.”

    He has had 99 remarkable years and now one big reason to be thankful this holiday season.

    Find your local Veterans Health Administration Community Living Center for more information on healthcare and support. 

    Roy De Jesus

    Source link

  • Parrish Grandma Club celebrating the holiday season

    PARRISH, Fla. –– A group of high school seniors in Manatee County started a club three years ago where the requirement for membership is to invite a grandma and love on them.

    Hence the Grandma Club began.

    What You Need To Know

    •  Sandy Angilly moved to Florida after retirement and needed to meet new friends

    •  Sandy’s granddaughter Mia decided to form a school club to help other grandmas connect with friendships

    •  The Parrish High School Grandma Club has grown and is connecting a multigenerational group of women


    Sandy Angilly is excited this holiday season to be decorating with a group of multigenerational friends.

    As she was crafting an ornament, she said it is a “great experience for someone at my age looking to be taking on something this new.”

    She is referring to her new social club.

    Sandy moved to Florida from Rhode Island in 2022.

    She is a retired nurse who cared for cancer patients and is no stranger to challenging moments.

    “Everyone would say, ‘well how could you do that?” she recounted. “Well because maybe you could brighten somebody’s day who is going through a terrible time.”

    Mia Polseno is a senior at Parrish Community High School in Manatee County.

    With graduation months away, students need to complete community service and other requirements to be eligible for scholarships and other awards. But this requirement is not just a task to check off.

    If you listen closely to Mia, she takes after her grandma, Sandy.

    “It’s a lot more than just signing off the hours on paper and turning it into the office,” said Mia. “We wanted to do something that we could see make a difference because it brightens our day.”

    To create a social network for Sandy as a new Floridian, Mia and a group of her friends created the Grandma Club in 2022.

    “I hadn’t had to think about how to make friends in a long time,” said Sandy.

    From making Christmas cookies to crafting decorations, the club does more than just bring the ladies together. The ladies meet new friends and spend time with other young women once a month in different social settings.

    Other events include making floral arrangements, pottery painting, bracelet making, etc.

    “You know what, sometimes it’s good to be put outside of your comfort zone,” said Sandy.

    What Mia did not realize is how many other women in the community would appreciate a club like this, such as 92-year-old Marion Balancia.

    The high school girls often pick up Marion and give her a ride to the events, which take place once a month.

    “It’s nice seeing our acts of kindness like trickle down to areas and people reaching out help us,” said Mia.

    Mia is referring to the support the club has received from other organizations and businesses. One of them is the Parrish Fire Department which provides the community room at the fire station where meetings happen.

    For Sandy, the time spent in her new social club has translated to new friends. But most importantly, Sandy has shared more time with her granddaughter Mia.

    “It’s a wonderful experience all those generations melding together, you know,” she said. “The kids are great.”

    Roy De Jesus

    Source link

  • Local Toys for Tots youth ambassador inspiring more service

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — As we look ahead to Thanksgiving and Black Friday this 2025, the holiday giving season really ramps up, and one Bay area teen is showing the way for others to do more community service while getting inspired by his dad’s own service. 

    Paxton Dulski, a senior at Clearwater’s Calvary Christian High School, has made it his passion project to organize Toys for Tots collection sites.

    What You Need To Know

    •  Paxton Dulski, a senior at Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, is a Toys for Tots National Ambassador

    •  He says he is inspired by his father’s service to his country as a Marine veteran and his community as a law enforcement officer

    •  Dulski has been promoting toy donations at the different sites he has set up in the Bay area


    Paxton loves to spend a lot of time on the baseball diamond at Calvary Christian as one of the team leaders.

    As with any teenager, his life is centered around activities like these.

    But his passion is in volunteering.

    “Like the opportunity to help others,” Paxton said. “So, I think I can use the Toys for Tots platform to like show the blessing that I have to others and to bless them.”

    A run through of his days takes him from school to various locations where he has placed the Toys for Tots collection boxes, at least 10 of them.

    He is in fact a National Ambassador for Toys for Tots, a nonprofit created at the behest of the Marine Corps in 1991.

    As it states on their website, the basic mission of the Marine Toys for Tots Program is to collect new unwrapped toys and distribute those toys to economically disadvantaged children at Christmas.

    And Paxton has been helping for years, starting first as a volunteer for the program.

    He has a big reason and inspiration which drives his service to the community.

    One of his deliveries is at Largo Police Department and City Hall.

    “He is motivated, he is empathetic, he’s a giver,” said his father, Lt. Ryan Dulski. “This is a passion that he had.”

    Those words of praise come from — you could say one of Paxton’s biggest inspirations — his father.

    “That’s probably the best part of it, you literally have a child helping children and he’s learning from it at the same time,” said Lt. Dulski.

    It is this year’s Toys for Tots theme — children helping children.

    Paxton has been all over Pinellas County logging hundreds of hours to set up the toy collection boxes, from bingo nights at the neighborhood clubhouse to box set-ups at mom’s work.

    All the while, dad said Paxton is maintaining a nearly 4.5 GPA, and he is also a leader for the baseball team.

    “Those are time-intensive things, both studies and being a student athlete but to tag on volunteering and hundreds of hours of volunteering,” said. Lt. Dulski.

    Paxton would say it is the service of his father, who also happens to be a Marine veteran, that he is trying to emulate.

    He wants others to find their own inspiration.

    “I just hope that they can make an impact too,” said Paxton. “Because like I said, I started out volunteering and that’s one of the biggest blessings that you can help others.”

    As they say, it is much better to give than to get.

    A motto we can all live by this holiday season.

    Roy De Jesus

    Source link

  • Central Florida nurse’s weight loss journey inspires daughter

    ORLANDO, Fla. — One Apopka mother drew strength from hurdles to transform her life and show up for her daughter in ways she never imagined possible. 

    “Yes, I’m competing and lost weight. But, out of everything I’ve done, she’s my biggest success,” said Jwan Nguyen, referring to her daughter. “She’s the one who motivates me to keep going.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Jwan Nguyen battled with weight issues for years before undergoing a gastric bypass                                    

    • The nurse committed herself to the gym, losing more than 180 lbs.

    • She recently placed fourth in the “Transformation” division of Summer Shredding competition in Texas

    • Nguyen’s journey inspires her daughter, an 11-year-old competitive gymnast


    Nguyen lost more than 180 lbs, placing fourth in a recent Summer Shredding competition held in Houston, Texas, and adding another medal to her now-growing collection.

    But, it’s what she overcame to walk across the stage that serves as inspiration for her competitive gymnast daughter, Elodie.

    Nguyen lost her mother, who was often sick when she was a child, at the age of 16. For a period of time, Nguyen was homeless.

    She was also the first in her family to go to college and as an adult, battled with weight issues, and later dealt with infertility.

    “I felt like by the time I got to rescue a patient, I was the one who needed oxygen because I couldn’t make it there. I thought, ‘How can I take care of someone and save their life if I’m not taking care of myself?’” she said.

    Nguyen decided to make a change, and underwent gastric bypass surgery. And while it was the gateway to a healthier life, it was her grit and determination to hit her local Planet Fitness gym in Winter Garden — for hours each day, five to seven days per week — that propelled extensive weight loss.

    After hiring a coach, she began entering Summer Shredding competitions, entering the Transformation Division, which she explained is not about perfection, but progress.

    “I wanted to challenge myself, to see exactly what I could do with my body. I was inspired by the people on the stage like, ‘Let’s see if I can do this … pushing myself to see what I can do in the newfound body,” she said. “I spent so much of my life being unhealthy. I didn’t have the self-esteem, the self-confidence to go out and enjoy life. Thank God this has given me a newfound confidence.”

    Now, Nguyen cheers on Elodie, who competes at levels eight and nine, as the 11-year-old cheers in tandem for her mother.

    “She’s always like, ‘I’ll do my workout because even if I don’t want to do it, I’ll get better,’” said the girl, adding, “I’m proud about that because now she has more opportunities to do more things.”

    “I’m just ready to go there and kick butt, hopefully bring home the trophy,” said Nguyen. “Show my daughter and everybody else that if you want something hard enough, push hard enough, you’ll get there.”

    Julie Gargotta

    Source link

  • A look back at The Center of Anna Maria Island’s inspiring recovery efforts

    ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla. — The Center of Anna Maria Island became the central hub for recovery in a community battered by back-to-back storms.

    The damage Helene and Milton left behind, you can still see today.

    During the time shortly after the storms passed, The Center also became a symbol of community and inspiration.

    What You Need To Know

    •  The Center of Anna Maria Island turned into the community’s recovery hub

    •  Christopher Culhane is the center’s Executive Director and said the yearlong efforts to get back to normal have been tough

    •  The Center has been providing youth sports and other activities for the community which relied on it for hurricane relief


    The Anna Maria Island community suffered major impacts twice, however, the place most residents consider a home base also became a beacon of hope.

    Holmes Beach resident Brooke Svoboda said she has lived on the island for years and The Center on Anna Maria Island became an integral part of the days after the storms.

    “And then the supplies started coming in and it was a home. You got a smile when you started coming in, warm food, supplies,” said Svoboda. “They know it’s the heartbeat of this community and they know the island would not be the same without it.”

    A year later, the community center’s children are scoring big during the center of youth soccer league games, which started back up for the fall season a couple of weeks ago.

    Ironically, that league start would put it on the same timing as the storms arriving a year ago.

    “The hurricanes damaged a little bit of everything on the island,” said The Center of Anna Maria Island Executive Director Christopher Culhane, as he started talking about his recollection of the storms. “Pretty dramatic. All of the tennis court. All of the higher fencing, all of it got blown over. The scoreboard we lost as well. “

    A newly installed scoreboard is now up. And what caused all of this is a bad memory for most residents in the Bay area.

    From fires bursting from downed power lines to rushing water over submerged streets, the moments right after the hurricanes were incredibly challenging and a chaotic scene.

    The double impact of hurricane winds and flooding devastated Anna Maria Island and anything on it.

    But Culhane also said something else happened soon after.

    “The Center stepped up with many other organizations and started a volunteer effort to put the island back together,” he said.

    Neighbors were in need, such as Svoboda, who relies on The Center for her family’s youth activities.

    A year ago, she relied on them even more.

    “We did stay on the island. We didn’t evacuate,” she said. “And after the hurricane hit, we came to The Center, we got supplies. It was like our home when everything was chaos and destroyed.”

    And more started to happen.

    The Center would then help plant almost 30,000 plants to renourish the beaches.

    They also held a relief concert last November with Lynyrd Skynyrd, raising more than $400,000 for temporarily unemployed AMI hospitality workers.

    The Center being so close to the water, like everything else on Anna Maria Island, also faced its challenges.

    It has been a yearlong effort to get back. The sod on the soccer fields had to get redone. The fencing and tennis courts are not fully restored.

    Nevertheless, they are playing on them today.

    The Center and its staff got recognition for all the arduous work they did over the year, and following their social media one can see how much.

    As well as the efforts continue even today to inspire others like Svoboda’s son, Parker.

    “We started a little business, and we thought it would be good to donate some back to the Center,” said Parker. “And we’ve done it enough to get to have our jerseys.”

    Proceeds from Parker’s printing business is going back to The Center to help in other ways.

    Because the kind of teamwork you see on the field during the youth games is also what happens on Anna Maria Island, according to Culhane.

    “This community steps up,” he said. “The Center wouldn’t be here without the community. And the community always stands strong with events like this past year.”

    Roy De Jesus

    Source link

  • Dr. Phillips senior earns international JROTC accolade

    ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando student set herself apart from the pack, earning top honors and a global distinction of a top cadet in the world.

    What You Need To Know

    • Student Mayra Feliciano is in charge of more than 300 cadets at Dr. Phillips High School

    • She found focus and discipline in the school’s JROTC program, bolstering her dream of one day flying fighter planes

    • JROTC Senior Instructor Lt. Col. Rick Proctor nominated Feliciano for the accolade

    • The senior beat out 95,000 cadets across the world to be recognized as Cadet of the Year

    “I found a lot more about myself, things I could do, the things I struggle on and what I’m good at,” said Mayra Feliciano, who is now a senior at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando. “You don’t have to go to the military after it, but it teaches a lot of discipline and a lot of other things: time management, skills for the real world.”

    Feliciano stumbled upon the JROTC program while attending a high school choice fair, curious about a “kid in a flight suit.”

    But she spent the past three years intensely focused on the program, while sprinkling in other activities — from after-school clubs to leadership development.

    She’s now a cadet colonel of the Air Force JROTC program, in charge of about 300 cadets at the school, and serves as point person for training her fellow cadets.

    JROTC senior instructor Lt. Col. Rick Proctor steadily watched Feliciano grow in her knowledge and self assurance. He decided to nominate her for the Cadet of the Year award.

    “It makes me come to tears thinking about it because I’m so happy for her and what she’s accomplished,” he said. “And that’s what this program is about. This is about Mayra Feliciano being herself. I could just see the dedication and the focus in her, and it helps knowing somebody’s like that, anybody’s like that.”

    As if edging out the competition of 95,000 cadets from the United States to Japan was not enough, Feliciano spent the summer on a $30,000 scholarship at a local flight academy, earning her private pilot’s certificate at the age of 17.

    “It was pretty cool to say I was flying over the summer, while other kids were playing video games,” she said, breaking out in a grin.

    The high schooler said she’s relishing her last year at Dr. Phillips High, but she’s focused more on the future than the present. She’s dreaming of attending a school like Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, flying fighter jets in the military and helping her single mother get on better financial footing.

    “I want to help them have an easy life. I don’t want them to work until old age,” Feliciano said of her mother and grandmother. “I’m going to be 18, out in the real world, paying taxes in a year or two. I gotta find a way to sustain myself and help my family out. We have a connection. It makes it easier because we are there for each other.”

    Julie Gargotta

    Source link

  • Despite serious diagnoses, young woman carries on crochet business

    ORLANDO, Fla. — There are times the life we imagine for ourselves is at odds with our reality.

    But, Mei Ashton isn’t letting her reality, dealing with various health concerns — diagnoses of four rare illnesses — dim her light nor crush her endless optimism.

    “I think you should also say what good is happening to you than what bad, then you can also say, ‘This could be worse,’” she said.

    What You Need To Know

    • Doctors diagnosed Mei Ashton with gastroparesis, a delayed stomach emptying, as a teen

    • She suffered from debilitating pain, and was unable to walk across her high school graduation stage

    • Ashton leaned upon her single mother, as well as research into nutrition to tackle her illness

    • She began crocheting for comfort, but turned the pastime into a small business

    Several years ago, around the age of 15, the teenager suddenly found herself in constant great pain. When she wasn’t performing, singing on stage at places like the Dr. Phillips Center, or participating in an array of after-school activities, Ashton was enduring testing and doctors’ appointments. 

    Eventually, she was diagnosed with gastroparesis, a debilitating condition characterized by delayed emptying of the stomach and pain digesting food.

    “What was the hardest was watching her go through it and not be able to give her any answers,” said her mother, Jeannie Lee. “She suffered a lot, not being able to sleep, not being able to eat.”

    It launched Ashton, as well as her mother, on a journey of researching best practices, nutritional advice and non-surgical options — as Ashton worried about the potential risks associated with surgery. She tried holistic medicine, acupuncture, anything to relieve the pain.

    “The second I was diagnosed, I began researching what I can consume,” Ashton said. “I consume about 90 percent liquid, maybe 10 percent food. If I lose too much weight, I might risk having a feeding tube.”

    Later, all the teenager’s concerns were amplified as she was diagnosed with three other rare conditions, revolving around her arteries, connective tissue and renal veins.

    The situation was so dire that Ashton left school, opting to take online classes. Though she graduated early, she could not walk across the stage for her high school graduation.

    But everything turned around as Ashton found her own path forward.

    Behind her, a wall of memories from past trips with her mother serve as motivation to continue pushing forward. (Spectrum News/Julie Gargotta)

    She began walking after meals to stimulate digestion, honed her diet with supplements and carried her blender with her everywhere she went. She got brave, toting along the blender to foreign countries as she proudly displayed her graduation cap with a favorite quote from the movie, Mama Mia: “Life is short, the world is wide. I wanna make some memories.”

    Eventually, Ashton dropped from taking more than a dozen pills per day to zero.

    And she found a new outlet for her creativity, leaning into a hobby she picked up during the pandemic, as a way to find comfort and community: crocheting.

    “When I think of crochet, I think of relaxation, creativity. Really churns the gears in your head,” she said. 

    Ashton started selling crocheted goods at various places, from an online Etsy store to her favorite boba shop owned by a family friend. 

    She also designs patterns for crocheters around the world, with her mother explaining that more than 2,000 people in 65 countries have signed up for her daughter’s free patterns.

    “It’s like a musician that writes notes and sells music sheets,” she said. “She channeled a lot of her frustration into something good….So decided to build something out of it.”

    Locally, the teen curated a community of crocheters, teaching them her methods — for crafting and for getting through challenging times, be it teenage years or serious health concerns.

    It’s a gift, her mother described, that her daughter is capable of persevering and staying positive, even in dire situations.

    “She’s always been one to look on the bright side of things, never once seen herself as a victim. She has always wanted to one-up life,” Lee said. “She has grit that most people don’t have. It would be easier to have a feeding tube. And a lot of people don’t think she’s as sick as she is, because she makes it look so easy.”

    “A lot of people don’t realize how much one may be suffering when they don’t see, so I think by also bringing the awareness of rare diseases, people who have them feel talked about, they feel seen,” Ashton explained.

    The road has not been easy. Ashton is still, at times, overcome with the same insecurities many teenagers face—and then some due to her condition. She wonders aloud what it would be like to have a relationship, go on dates, and pines for the freedom of going out to restaurants or picking up fast food with her friends.

    Yet, Ashton’s manifesting a life for herself that is not defined by her health conditions, leaning on life lessons her single mother taught her, as well as what she learned thus far about herself to propel her forward.

    “If I keep thinking, I’m never going to get better, my stomach is going to get worse.… If I say, ‘I will get better, I will heal,’ I will find a way to be better,” she said. “I think I’ll always feel slightly insecure about the fact I am different than others and have rare diseases, but then I have to find that as a superpower. I’m able to cope with it all and figure out how to live my life with it.”

    Julie Gargotta

    Source link