Community & Philanthropy

Photo by Eileen Saavedra   Chickens. It was thousands of chickens that started Coconut Creek resident Brook Katz on his crusade of rescuing animals. Before moving to South Florida in 2006 to care for his aging parents, Katz lived for 10 years in Maui, Hawaii. There, he noticed huge metal sheds on a site where

Though youth remain at the heart of the formidable work being done throughout the state by Children’s Home Society of Florida, it’s the family core that’s driving the esteemed nonprofit organization’s bigger intentions. Since its inception more than a century ago in Jacksonville, CHS has been one of Florida’s most prominent and persistent voices when

Pictured above: Festival founder Kate Reed, host chef Angelo Elia, and festival vice president Phillip Marro   Bringing in celebrity chefs from Los Angeles and New York to draw crowds is a recipe that works for other food festivals. But as the framework for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival began to take shape,

Rarely does a high school student’s excuse for missing a final exam come off sounding like Ivy League material. Then again, how many teenagers have to be in Washington, D.C., on a school night because the nonprofit organization they helped to create is being honored with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award? In the

When Samantha Novick remembers Jaime Guttenberg, she thinks of the way she interacted with others during programs run by The Friendship Journey, an organization that promotes fostering relationships with individuals with special needs and developing a more thoughtful understanding of that community. Jaime’s friends, Novick says, couldn’t wait to see her every week. “She had

For years, Coconut Creek staff has looked for a way to share current and upcoming projects with residents. They experimented with tables and online portals, but, says Sustainable Development Director Sheila Rose, they were never user-friendly. Recently, the city introduced a solution: a web application from ESRI, a digital mapping company whose software is used

Runners who live in Coconut Creek recognize North Creek Presbyterian Church as the site of the annual North Creek Explorer 5K (pictured above), a race that benefits the Coconut Creek Police Department Explorers. But the church, which has been a Creek staple for more than 20 years, also reaches out to the community through other

Just west of Wynwood, near Miami International Airport, one of Florida’s tallest murals stretches more than 13 stories high. Artist Rey Jaffet spent nearly four months hand-painting the piece—splashed in vibrant red, purple and yellow hues and titled “We Are One”—onto the eastern façade of Pinnacle Heights, an affordable housing community created by Pinnacle Housing

It’s Wednesday morning at Liberty Elementary School on the Margate-Coconut Creek border, and fifth-grade teacher Keri Carrow is reviewing a science lesson with her students. Next to one fifth-grader is someone you usually wouldn’t see in a fifth-grade class: Stephanie Vargas, a senior from Monarch High School. While the class takes the science test on

The Margate-Coconut Creek Kiwanis Club has raised money and hosted events for children in the community for 45 years, and its president and soon-to-be lieutenant governor, John Francis, has memories for more than a quarter of them. Though Francis has plenty of memories of helping children during his 16 years with the Kiwanis Club, there

Photos by Paul Miller It’s a Wednesday morning at North Broward Preparatory School, but in Anastasia Hall’s first-period class, students aren’t huddled over desks or textbooks. In Entrepreneurial Studies I, teams of students walk to the front of the classroom group by group to present the logo and mission of fictional brands they’ve created. After

By Anna Noriega / Photos by Matt Rice Photography / Photographed at the Deering Estate The holidays are here, and what better hallmark of the season than a wreath? We display ours to better deck the halls and share end-of-year cheer, but they can hang on your front door to greet guests all season long.