They go even further than simply teaching the three R’s: Readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic. At Grace Place in Golden Gate City, Fla., volunteers strive to teach at-risk and impoverished children and families the three basic L’s: Literacy, language and life skills.  “Golden Gate City had been identified as the biggest pocket of need outside of Immokalee,” in Southwest Florida, explains Stephanie Munz Campbell, the director of Grace Place. “It’s a very under-served area.” After 20 years in Christian education, Stephanie felt God’s pull to reach out to this area of great need. Five years ago, when the struggling Golden Gate […]

Gene Joyner is an example of a man who bloomed where he was planted. The nationally-known horticulturist lovingly cultivated the land where he grew up and also single-handedly created Florida’s only rainforest. The lush tropical landscape Joyner created, called Unbelievable Acres Botanical Gardens, started out in 1970 as two and a half acres of empty cow pasture holding only two pine trees. Joyner’s family owned the land, and he was raised in a home close to the field. When asked why he started a rainforest in South Florida, Joyner answered, “I just love the rainforest. I looked forward to my […]

Septuagenarian Ed McKenzie is a man on a mission to help seniors in need on low, fixed incomes and grandparents raising their grandchildren throughout Broward County. Each month when he does his shopping, McKenzie practices “buy one, give one free” every time he buys a special offer, he gives the “free” food he collects to The Pantry of Broward, a unique charity focusing on helping seniors and grandparents raising their grandchildren. “In the past six months, McKenzie has collected an amazing one ton of food for The Pantry’s clients,” explains Penny Loughan, CEO of The Pantry of Broward. “What an […]

HopeMongers recently announced the launch of a micro-giving community that empowers anyone with $10 to make a lasting difference in the lives of the world’s poor. The HopeMongers micro-giving community connects online donors with specific community projects around the world. Donors can give as little as $10 to individual projects such as drilling water wells, building schools or establishing orphan community care points. HopeMongers’ efficiency and breadth of projects is due to its broad-based volunteer network that has grown steadily over the last year. The organization passes the administrative savings directly to donors by charging nothing for its micro-giving services. […]

“AIDS doesn’t ask if you’re gay or straight, black or white, male or female, young or old. AIDS only asks if you’re human,” says Steve Savage, founder of Oasis HIV/AIDS Life . Oasis reaches out to victims of HIV/AIDS here in South Florida, across the country and around the world. The Life will co-host a 5K Outreach run/walk on Dec. 5 at 8 a.m. at Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale with Calvary Christian Academy. The goal is to raise money and awareness and to impact the souls living at the All Saints AIDS Camp located in Nassau, Bahamas. Like a modern-day […]

Have your kids caught the virus? It’s the most contagious and one of the most dangerous viruses a person can catch, and it is “heir-born.” Most of our culture has it. Are your kids negative and ungrateful? Sometimes, kids can be that way because they’re still children. But, many times they act ungrateful because they are very impressionable. It doesn’t take much to cave into the impressions that this culture perpetuates that more is better. They can catch it from the culture but they can also learn it from their parents. The virus of ingratitude is caught in homes where […]

Just Between Friends franchise seeks to glorify God and save South Florida families money Nov. 20–21 When friends Shannon Wilburn and Daven Tackett decided to host a glorified garage sale in their living room to sell gently used baby gear, they included friends that wanted to sell baby, maternity and children’s items, too. Each mom went away with a few extra bucks in their pockets and hopes to have another event real soon. The women saw a franchise opportunity in the making that night in 1997. Twelve years later, the Just Between Friends (JBF) franchise is a more than $4 […]