Local Non-Profits spreading positivity at Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival
In order to earn one of Tony’s Chocolonely bars and a chance to win the signed D'Angelico guitar, each person had to “complete” four positive actions. Each booth had either a task or game set up for attendees to participate. Festival goers were curious to learn more about the organizations featured, donate their time and some even got emotional during some deep, therapeutic one-on-ones.
The local nonprofits featured this year were Treasure Coast Food Bank, End the Hunger, Thank You For Your Service, Helping People Succeed, Healthy Start, Martas House and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
TREASURE COAST FOOD BANK
Treasure Coast Food bank is a hunger-relief nonprofit organization that aims to bring awareness to the constricting issue of hunger and service families and individuals in the Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee Counties. This year, they asked attendees to write their thoughts on hunger on paper plates and had them pinned all over their booth. People wrote encouraging messages around topics like hope, love and making a change. By Saturday afternoon, they had collected over 2,000 messages from those that stopped by. In 2020, OMF rescued 5,621lbs of food that was donated to the food bank which provided 37,008 meals to families in Okeechobee County. Hunger is a crippling issue that affects communities all over the world and the Treasure Coast food bank has been able to provide meals to 1 in 4 families around these areas. The food bank is located in Fort Pierce and serves 350 families monthly through mobile distribution efforts. Treasure Coast is able to provide 8 meals for every $1 they collect; to learn more or make a donation visit stophunger.org
END THE HUNGER INITIATIVE BY OKEECHOBEE HIGH SCHOOL
End the Hunger is an initiative completely run by the National Honor Society students at Okeechobee High School. It takes on average $41,250 to run the program every year. Aside from their donations from Okeechobee Fest, students raise money through a sponsorship drive where one can sponsor a student for $275 for the school year which allows them to purchase the food. Every week students pack 1,200 bags of food and deliver them to 150 families in Okeechobee County. This year, they set up a game where attendees were to stack cans of food in the allotted time that it takes students to pack one bag of food.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
Thank You For Your Service was founded by VA, Gregg Maynard in 2016 doing bathroom repairs and home renovations for disabled veterans. The organization is now able to provide resources such as food, shelter, building materials and mental health services and more to VAs in Okeechobee County. Thank You For Your Service has participated at OMF the last 4 years and in 2020, Okeechobee Fest collected over 3,000lbs of reusable goods that included tents, coolers and other camping goods that were distributed to homeless veterans around Okeechobee County. Gregg’s therapeutic exercise involved something he called “Burn Your Demons”. He gave each person a blank paper, a pen and a chance to write anything that they felt was holding them back from peace and happiness. Impacted, we noticed people get emotional over previous traumas, insecurities and worries as they watched their “demons” burn over the pit and thanked all the reps for their release.
For more information contact: Gregg Maynard
(863)447-5049
HELPING PEOPLE SUCEED
Helping People Succeed is an organization in Martin and Okeechobee County that helps families and individuals reach their potential through programs and skill-building workshops. Services are offered through community resources, tips, home visits and educational support to families. The organization is comprised of various programs. Baby Steps focuses on infant and toddler development. Behavioral Services offers psychiatric, case management and counseling services to children and adolescents. Successful Futures builds partnerships with employers, on-site training for new employees and skill development efforts to people with disabilities through life skills classes, interview and resume writing skills, community outreach programs and so much more. At the booth, their game was a therapy ball toss where participants had to answer the topic/question on the side that the ball landed on i.e. “What was a recent goal you met?”
HEALTHY START
Healthy Start was founded over 30 years ago and is based out of Okeechobee County. The program focuses on maternal and child health care through coordination and community outreach services to expecting or new families that are at-risk. Their goal is to be an advocate for the community and to make sure they have healthy care and ample resource options regardless of their coverage until the baby reaches the age of one and can be extended until the age of three. Healthy Start offers services on mental health, postpartum depression, substance abuse, the purchase of formula and even help installing a car seat. To learn more about home visits or other resources, please visit healthystartflorida.com. This year they had festival goers work on collaborative art pieces that were drawn by their Program Coordinator, Cassidy Medellin. The pieces will be auctioned off and all proceeds will go towards the initiative.
MARTAS HOUSE
Martas House is a local, domestic violence center with offices located in City Limits Okeechobee that provides a safe haven for individuals affected by domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault and stalking. They have a shelter in a non-disclosed location with 20 beds available to women and children in distress. Martas House offers counseling, economic justice, DHS advocacy educational opportunities, and can also offer an IFP attorney to help with the injunction for protection. Donations can be done online or through their 24/7 state hotline: (863) 763-0202 and clothes or household items can be dropped off at the outreach center. Through their participation at OMF, they are able to raffle multiple collaborative canvases done by everyone who stopped by their booth.
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS
Big Brothers Big Sisters has been around for over 30 years in the St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee communities and service them through one-on-one mentoring programs for children. Volunteers are vetted and matched to children between the ages of 4-18 to develop a positive and lasting relationship. Research shows that children in the program perform better in school, improve behavioral patterns and demonstrate a rise in social/emotional learning through community and school-based mentoring. Bigs and Littles are able to enjoy activities such as going to the park, library, reading or doing homework together etc.
For more information on becoming a community based volunteer, fill out this form.
Coverage by Viviana Franco // Instagram: @viviana.ttl
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