She’s 15 years old and her goal is to feed 100,000 needy families in South Florida

At 15, Celine Churchman is the vice president of Key Club at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High, and junior legislative aide and events coordinator in the City of Sweetwater.

She has spent the pandemic planning and coordinating four huge food distributions in her community.

So far, she said, she and her team of volunteers have fed over 21,670 residents with donations of pasta, rice, canned vegetables and fruit, canned tuna, beans and juice.

Her most recent food drive on June 20 brought in 100 volunteers to feed 3,278 families — about 12,000 residents.

“This brings me one step closer to my future Silver Knight project of feeding 100,000 families by my senior year!” she said. Celine, a rising sophomore, completed 500 service hours in her freshman year alone.

“This service project has impacted me in all sorts of ways. I truly do see and love the smiles I get to see on residents’ faces just by delivering a simple bag of food.

“It’s a truly amazing experience and I’m so grateful to be able to share these experiences with my Key Club and other Key Clubs thanks to Marcos Villanueva, who has been my role model and mentor to guide me through this process and been there for me every step of the way,” she said of the Sweetwater commissioner.

Donations for the Sweetwater food drive are dropped off from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and volunteers spend until 2 p.m. organizing and sorting to create meal bags. Then, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the distribution center is ready to give meals to the residents in need.

Contact celinechurchman70@gmail.com to help. The next food drive is being planned for the end of July.

Happy 94th birthday to Jerry

It’s been a tough time for our older South Florida residents whose lives have made such a difference in our communities. Jerry Moore, tennis teacher extraordinaire, is one of those.

This year, the Palmetto Bay resident quietly celebrated his 94th birthday in quarantine at the East Ridge retirement community in Cutler Bay with a Zoom call from former tennis students.

He told his son John that it was his best birthday ever.

Jerry was born May 25, 1926, and served in the Navy during World War II. He started playing tennis at around age 11 or 12 at the local courts in Knoxville, Tennessee. He joined the Navy in 1943.

He played many sports through his school years, and after graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1947, Jerry went to the Pacific. But he was called back to be an instructor in navigation and nautical astronomy in 1948 since he suffered from extreme motion sickness.

After the war, he worked on his master’s degree in engineering, married his sweetheart, Beverly Peters, and the two lived in Newport, Rhode Island. Jerry started playing in tennis tournaments and loved it.

Over the years, he became a registered NYSE broker, moved to South Florida, lost in the 1975 market, and regrouped with his wife and three sons. Tennis was always there.

In 1976, Jerry was able to build King’s Court Tennis Club across the street from the church that later became Christ Fellowship Church.

It was there that he and his son John spent decades teaching hundreds of adults and kids to love the game. They taught many women’s doubles clinics and had numerous women’s teams.

Jerry coached private lessons until he was 89, and he and Bev played tennis together for fun and exercise even after moving to East Ridge. Bev died in 2017.

“Jerry is an East Ridge resident, but he has also taken it upon himself to be the welcome person for new residents,” said former student and friend Maggie Wilson. Her husband was Jerry’s last student on the court.

“Jerry reaches out to each new resident and interviews him or her. The interview is then published internally in their newsletter. Jerry knows everyone there and everyone knows him.”

He and John, she said, continue to love tennis to this day and they keep in touch with their many students, who are forever grateful to them.

Fairchild Mango Days

The summer-like-no-other still brings us mangoes. And even though you won’t be able to experience Fairchild Garden’s famous annual festival this year, you can still plan a visit and enjoy virtual activities available throughout July.

Mango Saturdays, virtual cooking demonstrations, Mango Culinary Connections are all included in the program that allows everyone to celebrate our favorite tropical fruit.

The garden has even teamed up with Lincoln’s Beard Brewing Co. to release Best Day Ever!, a mango sour beer inspired by Miami summers. It tastes just like a fresh mango picked from the Fairchild Farm in Homestead.

The Garden is open every day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with special times available for seniors and individuals who identify as vulnerable. For everyone’s safety, the box office is closed and members and guests can only order tickets online. No walk-ups.

Learn more at https://fairchildgarden.org/event/signature-events/mango-days-of-summer/

Law firm supports artistic creativity

With so many families experiencing the need for creative outlet, the Miami-based litigation firm Mark Migdal & Hayden put some regular work aside to help support another local business.

It recently partnered with Creative Cove, an arts and crafts studio in the Bird Road Art District of Miami, on a customized project. What was once a bustling locale for birthdays and artistic celebrations, Creative Cove has since shut its doors due to the pandemic.

Together, the companies developed a family care package, produced by Creative Cove and delivered to more than 50 of MM&H’s clients. The kits include two to three craft projects, with wooden models, paint, brushes and canvas totes and are designed to encourage collaboration during quarantine.

“In a time where the human element is more important than ever, we wanted to ‘pay it forward’ with positivity,” said Etan Mark, founding partner.

“Sharing these care packages gave us the opportunity to connect with our clients during this difficult time while collaborating with a small business such as Creative Cove. As we continue to see our city suffer due to the pandemic, every little bit of help and optimism counts during this uncertain climate.”

Creative Cove Owner Luly Azizi said working with their team was truly collaborative.

“It was exciting to develop a customized art package that spoke to their brand and give back to small businesses like mine, which is the true spirit of our community,” she said.

If you have news for this column, write to ChristinaMMayo@gmail.com.