Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 11-13-18

Local
Partners Present Single Mother New-To-Her Vehicle
Shown with Denise Duggins, right, are: Christel Ventura, AVP Member Consumer Loans, GTE Financial; Dona Svehla, SVP, and Chief Lending Officer of GTE Financial; and Susan Jacobs, Founder and CEO, Wheels of Success.
A Tampa mother got a New-to-Her vehicle right be- fore the holidays. GTE Finan- cial and Wheels of Success teamed up on Wednesday, No- vember 7, at the GTE Head- quarters to provide a gift of a lifetime to a woman in need of her own vehicle.
Denise Duggins, a single
mother of five, with three chil-
dren in college, recently pur-
chased a used car with a
warranty. To her dismay, her
new car broke down, and the
warranty did not cover the
issue. This dramatic turn of
events left Ms. Duggins to fig- MDX. ure out how to commute to her
job at North Tampa Alternative School, back to her three-year- old’s daycare and then home.
“As a parent, commuting to work, your children’s school and taking on an array of other household duties is essential in our daily routines, so when there’s a breakdown in this process completing all of these tasks become extremely diffi- cult,” says Teri Averill, Direc- tor of Operations, Wheels of Success.
“What we saw in Denise is that she continued to do what she needed to do despite this obstacle, which many would find impossible! She is utilizing the bus system, but found out it is not efficient for her. We’re happy to assist this supermom with a vehicle to help her get so much done.”
Ms. Duggins received a 2002 Acura MDX which will give her family the space needed to get around town comfortably.
“Aside from an amazing mother receiving a car to help her family, another great facet of this is Denise will be paying it forward by volunteering five hours of service monthly to Wheels of Success, which keeps the program rolling,” says Dona Svehla, SVP, Chief Lending Officer, GTE Finan- cial. “We’re truly proud to be making a difference in
Denise’s life as well as many others.”
According to a recent YouGov Citybus poll, 24 per- cent of Tampa residents said that public transportation is not reliable. Also, Tampa is the highest cost metropolitan city in the country for transporta- tion costs. Forty percent of the working poor's income is spent on transportation as opposed to 24.6% of the general popula- tion's.
Denise Duggins sits in the driver’s seat of her 2002 Acura
First Baptist Church Of College Hill Hosts Two-Day Church Security Event
BY SHERNA BLAIR RICH
When we think of church, we think of a safe place where our families go to hear a Word from God. When we go to church, we look forward to seeing other church-going members who gather along with us to inspire, encourage, and uplift one another. When we leave our homes on Sun- day mornings headed to our respective places where we go to worship, we enjoy seeing the endearing faces and broad smiles of family and friends and community. When we are in church, we feel at home.
Today, not much of that has changed. Yet, something has changed. Today, we live in a world of division and wide-spread intolerance where congregational gather- ings are slowly becoming tar- gets for vicious attacks. From “1999-2016, there were 1,314 deadly force incidents in churches that resulted in 651 deaths,” aside from “25% of those being for robbery.”
First Baptist Church of College Hill, 3838 N. 29th Street, Tampa (33610), will host a Church Security Plan- ning and Intruder Response Training workshop sched- uled on Friday, November 30, 2018,from8a.m.to5p.m. Attendees will learn to begin or re-launch or improve their church security ministry.
With precise and informa- tional church security plan-
SANDRA NELSON ...Safety and Security Chairperson
ning, each attendee will leave with a comprehensive and practical 75-page workbook.
On Saturday, December 1, 2018, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p. m., attendees will learn to equip and empower their frontline team (ushers, greeters, security volunteers) to spot and stop trouble be- fore it starts. Team members will learn how to identify sus- picious behavior and act proactively peacefully and proactively with the goal of de-escalating potential con- flicts.
This workshop training hopes to equip churches and their staff and key volunteers to create a personalized secu- rity plan that protects their congregation while maintain- ing a welcoming environ- ment.
Being actively aware of
one’s surroundings in this day and age of “false security” is extremely important in that today’s culture of divisiveness produces increased suspi- cious behavior that threatens our normal peaceful and joy- ful routines on Sunday morn- ings.
Furthermore, this work- shop hopes to build and cre- ate awareness not only in our churches, but also in our communities because not only are our church doors open to familiar faces, but also those of ill-meaning in- truders.
For more information, please call FBCCH at 813- 248-6600 and ask for San- dra Nelson, Safety and Security Chairperson.
Rev. Dr. S. Evan Bur- rows is the pastor of First Baptist Church of College Hill.
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