Community Connection | Help us make the holidays bright
By Toni Hill
President NFMCA
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I can’t believe it’s November, this year sure has flown by here at the North Fort Myers Civic Association we will be busy as elves in December!
We were invited to set up at the Fall Festival, hosted by the North Fort Myers Rec Center, again this year.
It’s always a good time. The kids came out in force. There was plenty to see, eat and do.
Thank you to Allison Savage Font, Dora Mae and Haley Belle, Bob Hill, Christy Iwanow, Deb and Danny Ballard and myself.
We are a motley crew but we get things done.
I have never seen so many kids as we did at the Trunk or Treat that the Faith Assembly Church put together. This was our second year and did not disappoint.
It took the four of us to take care of all those children so I would like to thank Danny and Debbie Ballard, and Bob Hill who dressed up with me for our chance to act like a kid for the night. Why do we do it? Because we enjoy it.
Danny Ballard and John Mooney were at the Lee Civic Center on Oct. 14 and spent the day at the Senior Expo, talking and answering as many questions as they could, giving out information on the area and the North Fort Myers Civic Association and making new friends.
The North Fort Myers Civic Association will again this year give four families a $100 gift card to purchase a nice meal to enjoy on Thanksgiving day.
It is a day of giving and thanks, we are giving and we are thankful.
I touched on our Angel Tree last month.
We are honoring the veterans of North Fort Myers. Our 10-foot veteran-inspired tree will be dedicated to our local veterans.
We hope you’ll come to the North Fort Myers Recreation Center and select a vets tag. We invite you participate and help make the holidays a little bit less lonely for some of our homeless vets and some of our veterans who live alone.
The tree will be up until Dec. 8 so you have plenty of time to come in see our tree, select a name and return an un wrapped gift back to the Rec Center before Dec. 8. There are 75 cards on our tree and if you know of a vet in the North Fort Myers area who could use a little cheering up feel free to contact us. Contact Allison at 239-410-7482 or reach out to nfmcivic@gmail.com to add their name to our tree.
This year’s community service awards are approaching fast. Please think for a minute — you have to have a hero in your neighborhood who always helps others. A local person who you admire for their selflessness and kindness. Someone you feel should be honored or recognized.
The deadline to submit your applications for community service awards Dec. 31.
Submit your application to nfmcivic@gmail.com or, if you have questions or need more information, contact me, the chairperson, at tonihillnfmc@gmail.com or 239-244-7890.
Please go to our website nfmcivic.com or our Facebook page North Fort Myers Civic Association Inc. (the new page with the red logo).
At our August meeting I again brought up a new swing on the scholarship program. As important as it is to support our graduating seniors I felt it was just as important to support in a different way.
The board voted to offer a $2,000 scholarship to an adult towards tuition for a trade at one of Lee County’s technical colleges for expenses. We’re looking to benefit a man or woman who is starting new or starting over. We will take applications towards a new occupation to help achieve financial independence.
More information will be available soon. tonihillnfmc@gmail.com nfmcivic@gmail.com
It’s Santa time! Our fourth annual Santa parade is happening Saturday, Dec. 9. We will be delivering gifts with Santa and his crew in the Palmona Park neighborhood. Parade route and Santa stop signs will be posted.
It’s almost election time. Applications for the Board of Directors February 2024 election must be received by Jan. 15, 2024. More information on our Facebook North Fort Myers Civic Association Inc. or our website nfmcivic.com.
Enjoy your holiday. NFMNL
This column appears in the latest issue of the North Fort Myers Neighbor Living magazine, available at locations throughout North Fort Myers.