Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 12-20-16 Online Edition

Features
One Church One Child Of Florida, Inc. Reaches Out To Community To Consider Adopting Or Mentoring
One Church One Child of Florida is reaching out to families and individuals in local communities across the state in efforts to help share that children are waiting for a perma- nent home and/or mentor.
Daily, over 700 chil- dren are in need of a fam- ily to call their own; many of them are minorities.
Churches are asked to partner with One Church One Child in sharing infor- mation with congregations and extending Watch-Care Ministries to children. Rev. Beverly Hills Lane, State President for One Church One Child of Florida and Vice-President for National One Church One Child, is challenging fellow Pastors to get in- volved and encouraging families to open their hearts and homes to chil- dren in foster care.
The Sentinel has fea- tured monthly articles on
ANTONIO by Amy Pezz ‘I have a creative mind’
children waiting for adop- tion or mentoring. Decem- ber’s child deserves to have a family, too.
Often in the stories of successful artists, there’s one connecting thread: the triumph over difficulty. Antonio’s going to have one of these stories. He uses his magnificent artis- tic abilities to express him- self, and draws on his own triumphs to propel his art.
He lives and breathes to create, taking small breaks to admire another one of his loves: fast cars. He’s got a unique sense of style and a sweet, shy personal- ity. If he could go any- where in the world it would be Paris. Anto- nio’s whole life would be changed by stable, sup- portive parents who make his dreams theirs.
If you are interested in knowing more about An- tonio and other children in foster care available for adoption, or if you would like to become a foster parent, mentor, partner or volunteer, please contact LaKay Fayson, Recruit- ment Coordinator for One Church One Child of Florida’s SunCoast Re- gion, at (813) 740-0210 or lakay_fayson@ococfl.org.
The website for One Church One Child of Florida is www.ococfl.org.
Governor Appoints Judge To Florida Supreme Court
JUSTICE ALAN LAWSON ... Named to Florida Supreme Court
On Friday, Governor Rick Scott announced the appointment of Alan Lawson as the 86th Jus- tice to the Florida Supreme Court. Justice Lawson will fill the va- cancy created by the retire- ment of Justice James E. C. Perry.
Prior to this appoint- ment, Justice Lawson served as the Chief Judge of Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal. This is Governor Scott’s first appointment to the Florida Supreme Court and is ef- fective December 31st, 2016.
Justice Alan Lawson
said, “I am humbled and honored to be appointed as the 86thJustice to the Florida Supreme Court and would like to thank
Governor Scott for his leadership and faith in me to serve on our state’s highest court. I will bring to the bench the respect, integrity, and experience upon which I have built my career. I look forward to working with my fellow associates on the Court to uphold the Constitution of the State of Florida and protect the future of our great state.”
Justice Lawson re- ceived a Bachelor of Sci- ences from Clemson University in 1983 and a Juris Doctor from Florida State University in 1987. After graduating from the Florida State University College of Law, he worked in the private sector before becoming the Assistant County Attorney for the Orange County Attorney’s Office in 1997. In 2002, Lawson was appointed to a circuit judgeship in the Ninth Judicial Circuit by Governor Jeb Bush where he presided until being appointed to a dis- trict judgeship in the Fifth District Court of Appeal by Governor Bush in 2005.
Lawson has been re- tained in his position twice by the electorate and in 2015, was elected Chief Judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeal.
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