Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 12-18-15 Edition

Features
For 26th Year:
Hospital Employee
Continues Gift Of Giving
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Wednesday, at
noon, organizations
from throughout Hills-
borough County con-
verged on Tampa
General Hospital. They
gathered to embrace
the generosity of an
employee who is the
personification of giv-
ing. Delwyn Collins is shown placing the
This marks the 26th Foster Angels on the Christmas tree at year that Delwyn Tampa General Hospital as he has done for
Collins has saved his the past 26 years.
money throughout the year, shopped for gifts for children in foster care, and then donated them. Representatives from the Foster An- gels of Hillsborough County, who distributes the gifts to the children in foster care, will pick them up and deliver them to the appropriate location.
The Foster Angels Program was launched in 1989.
Other employees joined Collins in donating to the program. Collins places the dozens of paper angels on the Christmas tree and includes information about the children from their Christmas wish list.
The participants select an angel, and purchase the gift. The green angels represent the teenagers and the red ones indicate that its a younger child.
Each year, Collins has witnessed the number of gifts increase as others join him in making sure that those children have gifts at Christmas. This year, he placed about 500 angels on the tree.
Collins also selects several of the names himself and buys three items for each child he selects. “I do all I can every year. I shop all year long,” he said.
And this year for the first time, the Surgical Services Department donated $6,000 in proceeds. Half of the money was donated to Collins’ program and the other half was donated to Metropolitan Ministries, Inc.
A Tampa native and the son of a single, working mother, Collins overcame disabilities as a child. He is legally blind and rides his bi- cycle to work each day.
Collins, who is employed as a Kitchen Assistant at Tampa Gen- eral, is single and does not have any children of his own.
Tampa Native Will Be Filming Movie ‘Standing Firm’ In His Hometown
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Domestic violence is often a topic that’s talked about in hush tones or outright ig- nored, but an author and Tampa native, Gerald An- derson is on a mission to bring it to screens both big and small.
Just months after releasing his latest novel, Standing Firm (One Family’s Fight Against Domestic Violence), a movie based on that book– titled Standing Firm – soon will begin filming.
The book and the movie tell the story of Lorraine “Raine” Davis, a budding star who’s willing and ready to do whatever it takes to get a record deal. To the chagrin of her family and the only man she ever loves, Raine leaves the church and partners with Damien Black, a record label talent manager who promises her a lavish lifestyle beyond her wildest dreams.
But it comes with a price: Damien is physically abusive. On the biggest day of her life, Raine must decide between going back to the church or continuing her pursuit of her dreams.
The casting for the main roles is complete and features local actors, Renata Smith and David Jackson as Raine and Damien. Shoot- ing begins in early February and the film is targeted for re- lease in July.
Ms. Smith, who is also Anderson’s business part- ner, said although there are differences between she and Raine, it wasn’t hard for her to identify with Raine’s quest for stardom.
“I saw the hunger she had,” she said. A native of Guyana
GERALD ANDERSON ...First movie will be shot in Tampa
who – in addition to being an actress – is a model and event planner, says “singing is my passion just like acting.”
Anderson said he’s been convinced that Ms. Smith was the one to play Raine after she posed for the book cover.
The film’s cast is made up of local actors – many of whom have appeared in pro- ductions and theaters throughout the Tampa Bay area – who have quickly bonded into a close-knit “unit. Everybody is like family,’’ Ms. Smith said.
This is the first film for An- derson and his production company, Righteous Produc- tions. So when it came time to select a location, Mr. Ander- son said only one place was fitting: his hometown.
“I’ve always felt a loyalty to Tampa,” he said. “I couldn’t think of a better city to do a movie.”
Anderson, who grew up in the Belmont Heights neigh- borhood and is a 1980 gradu- ate of C. Leon King Senior High School, said that while Standing Firm is a work of fic- tion, the story of an abused woman taps into his personal life because his grandmother was a victim of domestic vio- lence.
The screenplay, co-written
RENATA SMITH ...To star in ‘Standing Firm’
‘STANDING FIRM’
by Anderson and Smith, doesn’t shy away from the grisly effects of domestic vio- lence. A disclaimer warning audiences of graphic abuse scenes will precede the start of the movie, Anderson said.
“We left a lot of the domes- tic violence in there because it needs to be told,” he said.
Mr. Anderson, who now lives in Maryland, said the en- tire process has required him to fully trust Ms. Smith, who he brought on as a partner over the summer, to handle important tasks such as coor- dinating the casting.
“We pray over everything,” he said. “We try to keep our focus squarely on God.”
In addition to Standing Firm, Righteous Productions also is producing other films including a mini-series that chronicles two Christian young adults as they navigate the ups and down of life and love.
Standing Firm will be di- rected by Omar Richard- son. A trailer is available at www.righteousproductions.co m.
Movie Extras Needed
Producers for the movie Standing Firm are looking for background actors and men extras for the film. If you are interested, send head or body shots to Renata Smith at re- natasmith@righteouspro.com.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015