The Boca Banner: Building a Better Community Together

The Taste of Boca event in February raised over $20,000 of which a good portion went to the Harry Chapin Food Banks in Fort Myers at a time when so many victims of the 2004 hurricane season needed it most.

The food bank was rewarded for its effective work when presented with the "Victory Against Hunger Award" bestowed each year to select nominees across the United States by the Congressional Hunger Center and Victory Wholesale Grocers.

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson nominated HCFB for the award. A senator or congressman must nominate an organization for the award.

In his letter of congratulations to the Food Bank, Nelson writes: "Congratulations on winning the Congressional Hunger Center's 2005 Victory Against Hunger Award. You're part of a select group of organizations, out of over 100 that applied, to receive a $1,000 grant to continue efforts to end hunger locally. In the wake of Hurricane Charley last year, you were a safety net for some of the hardest-hit residents of our state. Thank you for your longtime, unfaltering service to our area communities."

The HCFB provides 4 million pounds of emergency food annually to over 160 hunger agencies located in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Glades, and Hendry Counties.

This year, U.S. Food Banks and other hunger-fighting organizations were judged on how effectively they provide for the emergency food needs of seniors and children. In the HCFB’s service area, the fastest growing segments of need include 1) seniors living on very fixed incomes, 2) the working poor, and 3) children. In Southwest Florida, the causes of hunger include unemployment, low-paying jobs, skyrocketing housing and utility costs, and high medication costs faced by seniors.

Hawley Botchford, Executive Director of the HCFB says, “As we hustle to meet the burgeoning need for emergency food in a service area with over 100,000 neighbors in poverty, it’s nice to receive this national recognition for a job well done.”

This is the 13th year the Congressional Hunger Center and Victory Wholesale Grocers of Springboro, Ohio, and Boca Raton, Florida,

Boca folks linger over great food and a great sunset for the Taste of Boca in February. The next Taste of Boca is slated for Feb. 6.

have bestowed “Victory Against Hunger Awards.” This year, the awards are thirty-two $1,000 grants presented to anti-hunger and community-based organizations around the country engaged in the fight against hunger.

“Remember,” said Botchford, “this Food Bank can leverage the value of every gift nine times. A $1,000 award or gift from Victory or a local donor will actually multiply to $9,000 worth of food for the hungry. I challenge any “bank” in the nation to grow your deposit that fast.”

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Index...
EARS...........................pg 4
(Printed Edition)

Ron Hart.......................pg 6

Bob Janes.....................pg 8

Dr. Dan Hess................pg 9

Spirit............................pg 12

Sleuths........................pg 13

Godfollowers..............pg 14

Deep Sea Fishing.......pg 18

Boca Scrapbook.........pg 20

Boca Banner Website

The Boca Banner is on the internet. There are new links to weather and tide charts. Current news and photos. Links to Boca Grande's Real Estate leaders. Keep watching the site grow.

Its www.thebocabanner.com . The redesigned site is maintained by JD Web Design. of Port Charlotte Florida

The Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority's new office building opens for business Tuesday, August 23.

Furniture, fixtures and computers transfer Monday so the offices will be closed only for that day. The long construction phase officially ended Monday when the Certificate of Occupancy arrived.

Executive director Jim Cooper says he is "very pleased with contractor's work" and that the building is $10,000 under budget at $740,000. Only $200,000 of the $850,000 line of credit established was actually needed.

The new building has adequate parking for customers, including a dedicated handicapped spot, an elevator, meeting space and views of the bridge, toll plaza and surrounding expanses of water.

The "temporary" trailer offices will be removed in about two weeks. New landscaping will finish the project and include a paved pathway from the toll plaza to the new offices and a new 25' flagpole matched to the scale of the site.

Ongoing concerns discussed are the continuing maintenance of the three bridges and the causeway

as well as the need for eventual replacements.

The seawall erosion at the south bridge is scheduled for repair by the end of the month at a cost of about $6,000. The two outbuildings are getting needed painting and the whole

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