Community & Philanthropy

Photo by Eduardo Schneider Noel Glacer walked into a seminar earlier this year being hosted by a fledgling nonprofit in Parkland. His son, Jake, then a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, had witnessed four classmates being shot (one of whom died). Like so many other parents in the aftermath of the Feb. 14

Margate-Coconut Creek Fire Department Capt. Matt Whiteshield remembers hearing about a 7-year-old boy who was visiting his grandmother for Christmas a few years ago. He was upset because he wouldn’t be home for Christmas and thought Santa Claus wouldn’t be able to find him. But Whitefield made sure Santa paid him a special visit. “His

Eight years ago, student Stefano Selorio began his professional journey, thanks to Junior Achievement of South Florida. It started when he was in the fifth grade and participated in JA BizTown program, which teaches youths how to run companies through hands-on role playing and handle their personal finances. BizTown resembles an indoor business hub with

While campaigning for a spot on the Coconut Creek city commission in 2008, Mikkie Belvedere got a taste of the city’s diversity but was disheartened to hear some residents lacked local connections. “When I would say to a resident, ‘Could you introduce me to your neighbor?’ [they would say] ‘Well, I don’t know my neighbor.

In the nearly six months since 17 people were killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, consensus has been hard to find. Gun-reform issues have sent people to their respective corners. The work of student advocates has been equally polarizing. And lawmakers at the national level have been unable to advance game-changing

After her husband, Paul, was killed in an auto accident in Texas that also left her and her son, Dustin, hospitalized, Abby Mosher was confident that she and Dustin would return home to Broward County to resources to help them process their grief. Mosher, who was then working with the Coconut Creek Elementary PTA, was

In the weeks following the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, the words and actions of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas resonated from coast to coast, prompting a nationwide discussion and, at the state level, legislative change to Florida’s gun laws. But it’s the future of students at Stoneman Douglas that prompted action by a Boca

Before Glenn Sime started working for Coconut Creek 17 years ago, he worked for six other municipalities—some bigger and some smaller. But the code compliance supervisor agrees that, of all the cities for which he’s worked, Creek’s government tries to do everything it can to make the city a good place for residents. One way

Compelled to put brush to canvas following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, South Florida artist Maria Arango struggled to come up with a concept that would reflect the loss and sadness surrounding the tragedy. Nothing clicked—that is, until she saw so many high school students standing strong, challenging the political establishment and creating a

In the 20 months since a 29-year-old man staged the deadliest act of violence against the American LGBT community, activists in a support group for survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando had tried in vain to move the state legislative needle on any issue related to assault weapons. On Feb. 12, members of

Editor’s note: Two weeks before he was killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Alex Schachter composed the following free-verse poem, an assignment for a literary fair. His father, Max, recited the poem toward the end of the CNN town hall at the BB&T Center in Sunrise; his brother, Ryan, read the

It had been exactly one week since a gunman had shot and killed 17 students and teachers (and wounded 17 others) at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. But this wasn’t the night to grieve. This was the night to vent. And demand action. The survivors and parents who took the stage at BB&T Center in