The Little Engine that CAN! – United for a Good Cause Inc.
By David Triana
Last year was another hugely successful one for United for a Good Cause Inc. Founded in 2012 by local Hispanic leaders, the organization has become a leader in the entire region for the great variety of events and charity projects it has created on behalf of the youth of the area. The organization is led by Estela Elias, Irma Horlacher, Ninalizia Gayles and Michelle Castro. While it was founded by Hispanics and the leaders are Hispanics primarily, everyone is welcomed to join regardless of race, ethnicity or creed. Additionally, ALL their events are set so that anyone in the community can attend. For more information on this exemplary 501c3 tax exempt charitable organization, go to www.unitedforagoodcause.org.
We invite everyone to join and be part of what will surely be another greatly successful year!
Here is a recap of the four signature events the organization conducts each year.
4TH ANNUAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE:
22 April 1017: United for a Good Cause Inc., the “Little Non-Profit that CAN”, partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast and Okaloosa Saves to host the 4th Annual YOUth LEADership Conference “Lead, Empower, Act, Discover!”
Thirty-Five 7th–12th grade students from the region participated and enjoyed the Living on My Own Simulation led by Jill Breslawski of the University of Florida/IFAS.
The energetic presentations and activities provided by motivational speaker Barbara Britt and Rena Parent of Dale Carnegie Training were lauded by the varied students in attendance.
The robotics activity presented by Tim Sexton and his partner, Rob Jernigan, was also a highlight of the event. The students had a grand time during the “Robot Soccer” game they participated in.
Special thanks go to this year’s conference sponsors including ZT MOTORS, Hsu Family Educational Foundation, Gulf Power, Striving for Perfection Ministries and Dave Parisot. We also thank all the donors of items that went into the swag bags all students received and thank NWF State College for their informational table at the event.
United for a Good Cause Inc. challenges the public, private and non-profit sector to consider developing tangible and varied projects that will give our youth the tools necessary to become productive members of our community, our state, and our nation at-large. Next April will be special because it will be the 5th Anniversary of the founding of this conference!
HISPANIC FEST 2017:
1 Oct 2017: For the fourth consecutive year, it was another outstanding festival to raise funds for the 13th Annual Emerald Coast Christmas Miracle Needy Children’s Fiesta! More than 60 vendors, continuous variety entertainment, an awesome art gallery, kids’ activity zone and 13 food vendors’ booths participated. More than 2,000 people attended the Festival and had a great time. Our thanks to our Title Sponsor for the 3rd year in a row, ZT MOTORS, and the other sponsors, to the vendors, and to all the volunteers and attendees for making this another special event. Thanks to everyone that participated in one way or another, over $5,000.00 was raised which will now be used to plan, organize and execute the EVERYTHING IS FREE to all that attend 13th Annual Emerald Coast Christmas Miracle. On 17 December, the same venue, the beautiful Emerald Coast Convention Center will host the Miracle Fiesta and we expect over 2,000 kids and families! Thank you for helping us “put a smile on a needy child’s face for Christmas!” On September 9th, 2018, God willing, it will be another spectacular event, since we will be celebrating the 5th Anniversary of this Festival!
13th ANNUAL EMERALD COAST CHRISTMAS MIRACLE:
17 December 2017: The Fiesta hosted several hundred needy kids and their families, including special needs families. More than 1,000 toys and over 100 bikes were part of the items that brought great joy to young and old. It was a spectacular event with great entertainment, food and activity stations provided by the Early Learning Coalition, Families First Network, Autism Spectrum of the Emerald Coast, Shelter House, Special Olympics of Okaloosa County and AmeriCorps with their face painting table. ‘Asta La Vista Salon hair stylists were also there to provide FREE HAIRSTYLES to kids and adults in attendance. Santa arrived in style aboard Mercedes-Benz and BWM convertibles provided by ZT MOTORS! Once again, the support of Toys for Tots in donating most of the toys and the United Way’s Coats for Kids program was integral to the success of the event. A special thanks to the sponsor/donors this year which included: Crown Audio and Illumination, Gulf Power, K2 Media, Neil Tabot of Primerica, Dave Parisot, Freedom Self Storage, UHaul, The Shoppes at Wright Plaza, Reid Soria of Autism Sings LLC, Conexión bilingual publication, Tienda La Mexicana y Taqueria in Destin, Nelsi Rossi, and Marcos Otero.
A heartfelt thanks to Alexander Rea for once again volunteering as our primary photographer. Go here to see pictures: http://nspiretoaspire.com/13th-annual-emerald-coast-christmas-miracle-childrens-fiesta/
5TH ANNUAL SANTA’S 4-COUNTY SLEIGH RUN:
23 December 2017: Officers and volunteers from United for a Good Cause Inc. conducted their last event of the year! During the Sleigh Run, we took Christmas toys to 15 families (with over 40 kids) that contacted us for Christmas help, but, could not make it to our 13th Annual Emerald Coast Christmas Miracle Children’s Fiesta. Thanks to Toys 4 Tots, these families were still helped. A very important moment of our Run this year was our stop in Crestview where we met Santa Gary and his wife at Tractor Supply. Gary was there accepting donations towards his “Santa is Coming to Town” party scheduled for 25 Dec at Carver Hill Community Center and he had 350 kids on his list for toys. It was a moving visit as Gary was very emotional and worried he did not have enough toys for the kids. United for a Good Cause Inc. was there to give him a $500 donation and he asked us to “go shopping” with that so that the kids would hopefully have enough come Monday. What a blessing it is to serve others…especially at Christmas time. ¡Feliz Navidad!