On the one year anniversary of the murder of Kathleen Briles, the Briles family launches a website and efforts in her name.
TERRA CEIA, FL – August 3, 2010. The Briles family and friends have established Kathleen’s Cause, a collective voice in the memory of Kathleen Briles. They are announcing their website and plans for change in pawn shop regulation on August 3rd, one year after her murder.
The website address is www.kathleenscause.com. The website was created to gain statewide support inefforts to make legislative changes. Florida State Senator Michael Bennett and Florida StateRepresentative Darryl Rouson have committed their support and plan to sponsor a bill in the nextlegislative session.The family is seeking statewide support and has created an online petition. Bysigning this petition it will show the legislators that there is bipartisan support for this cause.Kathleen’s Cause proposes to amend current pawnshop laws under Florida State Statutes Title XXXIIIChapter 539.001. Additions include adding a requirement of a picture of the seller or pledgor, andpicture of the pawned or sold goods. These digital images will be uploaded to a statewide centraldatabase accessible to law enforcement agencies.
In addition to Senator Bennett and Representative Rouson, official supporters include: Sheriff BradSteube and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Michael Radzilowski and the City of BradentonPolice Department, Palmetto Police Department, and Sheriff Tom Knight and the Sarasota CountySheriff’s Office. Other formal support is growing and pending.
Family will gather at North River Family Health Center (606 4th Avenue West, Palmetto, Florida)on Tuesday August 3rd 10:00 a.m. to speak with the press. They will be discussing events over the last year and plans for promoting the cause.
They will also be attending National Night Out ceremonies at Pride Park in Bradenton, Floridaand Payne Park in Sarasota, Florida gathering support and signatures. National Night Out is ayearly event where citizens, law enforcement agencies, community groups, businesses and local officials gather for a “night out” to support crime prevention. It is estimated nearly 15,000communities nation wide and over 36 million people turn out each year.
You can support Kathleen’s Cause by visiting www.kathleenscause.com and signing the electronicpetition or by coming out to sign paper petitions. To date we have in excess of 3,000 signatures, butneed many more.
Thank you for your support.
University of Phoenix and HandsOn Network Recognize Captain J.R. “CC” Kreglo
as a University of Phoenix™ Volunteer Leader Award Honoree
ATLANTA, GA. (April 22, 2010)- Captain James Kreglo, of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and Bradenton FL has been named a University of Phoenix Volunteer Leader Award Honoree, an award given by HandsOn Network and the University of Phoenix to 10 outstanding volunteer leaders in the nation. These leaders motivate others and are catalysts for change in their communities.
The award celebrates the first anniversary of the landmark Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which authorized the largest expansion of national service in America in decades. Kreglo will receive $10,000 to donate to Hands On Manatee in support of ManaTEENs.
Kreglo’s dedication to service stretches back three decades. He moved to St. John in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and became a sea captain and EMT. He quickly recognized the need to develop youth into civic leaders.
In 1981, Kreglo, a scout leader with the Boy Scout Council of the USVI, established the Boy Scout Sea Explorers program. More than 200 young people from underserved neighborhoods have participated in the program and have become environmental stewards of the island chain.
To further engage youth, Kreglo utilized his unique talents as a fencer and fisherman to train young people in the athletic, moral and ethical principles emphasized by sporting and scouting organizations, which encourage self-respect and hard work.
Kreglo continues to lead by example. He identifies unmet needs and mobilizes people and resources to address critical health, education, and public safety issues. He is a volunteer EMT, and a CERT, CPR, First Aid and Boating Safety Instructor, preparing youth and adults for disaster mitigation and response. He trains residents of the Virgin Islands and Florida in CPR, First Aid and CERT.
Most recently, he initiated the effort to establish the first Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla on St. John. The 18-member group provides boating safety courses to the public, educates youth groups on environmental issues and life jacket use, and provides courtesy boat inspections. Kreglo currently serves as the US Coast Guard Auxiliary Division Commander for the Virgin Islands.
With more than 8,000 hours of service recorded since 2001, Captain Kreglo has inspired adults and youth in the US Virgin Islands and Florida. He has empowered them to improve their community in significant ways by becoming active change agents.
About University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix is constantly innovating to help students balance education and life in a rapidly changing world. Through flexible schedules, challenging courses and interactive learning, students achieve personal and career aspirations without putting their lives on hold. As of February 28, 2010, 458,600 students were enrolled at University of Phoenix, the largest private university in North America. University of Phoenix serves a diverse student population, offering associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs from campuses and learning centers across the U.S. as well as online throughout the world. For more information, visit www.phoenix.edu.
About HandsOn Network
HandsOn Network, the volunteer-focused arm of Points of Light Institute, is the largest volunteer network in the nation and includes more than 250 HandsOn Action Centers in 16 countries. HandsOn includes a powerful network of more than 70,000 corporate, faith and nonprofit organizations that are answering the call to serve and creating meaningful change in their communities. Annually, the network delivers approximately 30 million hours of volunteer service valued at about $600 million. For more information, please visit www.HandsOnNetwork.org.
ICP receives Summer of Service grant from Learn and Service America to engage nearly 600 young people in environmental service learning
The Corporation for National and Community Service announced in March 2010 that Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) will receive a grant from its Learn and Serve America (LSA) Program to support seven Summer of Service (SOS) program sites across the nation this summer. At $297,000, the grant makes ICP the largest LSA grantee for this year's program.
ICP will work with three community partners - ManaTEENS program of Manatee County, FL; Earth Force, headquartered in Denver, CO; and the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department - to implement Summer of Service programs that will impact nearly 600 students in 7 communities in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Washington State and the District of Columbia Metro area. For more information on these programs, click here. You may also visit www.icicp.org/sos.
SOS programs are service-learning opportunities that are designed to meet real needs while challenging young people in grades 6-9 to become leaders and find innovative solutions to issues that affect their community. This year's programs will focus on environmental education and disaster preparedness. The programs target young people from disadvantaged communities and enables youth participants to earn a $500 Education Award for completing a minimum of 100 hours of service.
This Learn and Serve grant is an exciting new phase of ICP's Summer of Service initiative, which ICP began several years ago to close the summer gap in service-learning opportunities for middle school youth. ICP Executive Director Susan Stroud is happy to see SOS programs coming to life. "ICP worked hard over the past several years to expand opportunities for young teens to have valuable service-learning experiences during the summer months. It's great to see the tangible results of this innovative idea through the Learn and Serve grant program which altogether will benefit 4,000 young people and many communities throughout the US."
Previously, ICP worked with the staff of Senator Chris Dodd and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro to help draft and introduce the Summer of Service Act of 2007, and ICP continued to work with the Senator and the Congresswoman to garner support for the legislation. As a result of these efforts, SOS was included as part of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act which was passed with bipartisan support in 2009. Both legislators continue to be champions for service-learning and youth and community development.
"I have been a strong supporter of Summer of Service since 2002 and am pleased to learn that so many young people will benefit from these grants, including students in my home state of Connecticut," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "Programs like Summer of Service are so critical-we know that students who participate in service-learning hold more positive civic attitudes than those who do not and students who engage in volunteering are more likely to be successful at school and avoid risky behaviors such as drugs, alcohol, and crime. Summer of Service is an innovative way to engage our young people and to help them reach their full potential as active members of their community."
Senator Dodd shares the Congresswoman's sentiment. "The Summer of Service program instills in our children a commitment to civic participation and volunteerism," said Dodd. "Thanks to organizations like Innovations in Civic Participation, we're doing more than just helping kids spend their summers well. We're building a national culture of service. Because of this grant, students who complete 100 hours of service will be eligible for an award that helps them further their education and open up new doors of opportunity. These kids will get a great experience and a leg up on paying for college, their communities will get the benefit of their work this summer, and America will get a batch of newly-minted young statesmen and stateswomen."
ICP has continued to drive the SOS movement by incubating the SOS idea as a national rite of passage for all middle school age young people. In 2005, ICP published the report "Summer of Service: a new American rite of passage?" The report shed light on the challenges that all young people, but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, face when transitioning from middle to high school. As a solution, it provided the conceptual framework, considerations and case studies for a national, universally available SOS program that builds on the existing infrastructure of community-based service and youth programs. SOS programs supplement the school calendar by providing students with opportunities to meet authentic community needs while improving leadership and problem solving skills that increase the likelihood of their success in high school, college and beyond.
In 2008, ICP launched its Summer of Service Resource Center as a forum for information exchange on SOS program design, implementation, and evaluation. The Resource Center also provides tools for program management and curriculum design, information about funding opportunities, published reports and research, a discussion forum, program database and featured exemplary SOS programs.
In 2009, ICP received a grant from Lumina Foundation for Education to create high quality resources and assistance to organizations interested in designing, implementing, evaluating and improving SOS programs. ICP is currently finalizing a Program Design Toolkit and an Evaluation Toolkit. The Program Design Toolkit will assist practitioners with designing and implementing SOS programs. The Evaluation Toolkit will provide local programs with a basic understanding of evaluation methods and a set of tools that can be used to generate data to assess program progress.
As a leading global organization promoting the development of innovative high-quality youth civic engagement policies and programs both in the US and around the world, ICP is proud to work with strong community partners to empower young people to solve problems, build valuable life skills, reflect critically about their role in society, and pave the way for success in high school and beyond. For more information about the ICP's Summer of Service initiative, please contact Jean Manney at 202.775.0290 or manney@icicp.org. You may also visit us online at www.icicp.org/sos.
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ManaTEEN President Alycia Bower Receives
Presidential Service Award
Alycia Bower, 18, President of ManaTEENs, was honored with the Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award on Thursday, February 18, recognizing her outstanding service in inspiring, mobilizing, and equipping volunteers in the community.
The award was presented by Wendy Spencer, CEO of The Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, commonly referred to as Volunteer Florida, and a member of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.
The event was held at the Hilton Garden Inn, in Sarasota.
Bower is serving her second term as President of ManaTEENs, a program of Hands On Manatee, recognized as one of the nation’s premier youth volunteer initiatives, engaging thousands of local young people as local decision makers, identifying and addressing critical community needs.
During her seven years of volunteer service, Bower has contributed in excess of 2,000 hours of service, mobilizing her peers to focus on animal welfare, disaster preparedness, environmental, health, and human service issues in the community.
Among her most notable accomplishments is Big Breath and Bark!, a campaign to raise awareness and funding for the plight of animals who suffer from smoke inhalation due to the lack of oxygen masks that fit the snouts of dogs and cats. Today, all fire trucks in Manatee County are equipped with short snout, long snout, and feline oxygen masks.
Bower has traveled extensively to facilitate a variety of leadership trainings for young people who are civically engaged in their communities. “Alycia is the most compassionate, caring young woman I know,” said Laura Lockwood, ManaTEEN Founder and Associate Director of Hands On Manatee. “She exemplifies the spirit of philanthropy. Alycia excels in school, works part-time, volunteers more than 20 hours per week and still finds time to be the captain of her cheerleading team at Braden River High,” Lockwood added. Bower is a senior at Braden River High School. She is the daughter of Vincent and Debra Bower and will attend University of South Florida in the fall.
The ManaTEENs recently created a YouTube page with videos from different service projects! Check it out at www.youtube.com/manateens! And for those of you interested in writing, visit the ManaTEENs new blog at http://manateens.blogspot.comto see what other ManaTEENs have to say about their volunteer experiences! If you would like to create a video about a volunteer project you participated in or want to write a blog on a service opportunity you enjoyed, e-mail Laura Lockwood at laura@volunteermanatee.org so we can add it to our site!!!
Thousands of volunteers will come together on September 27th, the Day of Action to participate in service projects around the nation in an effort to demonstrate how meaningful service is and the power people have to bring about change . You can help make a difference in your community on this day by volunteering! ManaTEENs will be doing a beach clean-up from 10:00am-12:00pm at our adopted beach. Just look for our ManaTEEN sign which is located at the last trolley station before Long Boat Key Bridge on the Coquina Beach side. Other opportunities for the Day of Action include a car show at Palmetto Automotive from 5:00pm-9:00pm. (Come dressed in 50's theme-greasers, squares, poodle skirts, etc.) and a planting and invasive species removal at Felts Preserve from 9:00am-12:00pm. For more information on these events check your ManaTEEN e-mails or call our office at 941-761-3207.
Do you get nervous when you have a class presentation or at an interview? Then you should take the public speaking training course offered by the ManaTEEN Club in November!!! Classes are the first four Sundays of the month from 5:00-8:00p.m. at Synovus Bank and you must attend all four weeks in order to get a certificate of completion. This course will definitely help you improve your public speaking and communication skills, but there are lots of other benefits such as meeting new people, building confidence, and it is good for job, college, or scholarship resumes!! To find out more about this exciting training opportunity check your ManaTEEN e-mails or contact Ashley at monkee2000b@yahoo.com .
‘ Carolina Rib Kings takes the title of 
