Palm Beach Perspective

Talked with Elizabeth Dashiell, Managing Producer, Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival.  They are celebrating 35 years of Shakespeare by the Sea performances in the community.  Their mission is, "to enhance the cultural quality of life for visitors and residents of Palm Beach County through accessible, original, and educational cultural programs and productions of Shakespearean works."
This Summer they will performing, The Winter's Tale. It's a play about the transformative power of love and forgiveness. It will be running July 10 – 13 and 17 – 20, 2025, Thursdays through Sundays at the Seabreeze Amphitheater in Carlin Park, located at 750 South, Florida A1A, Jupiter, FL 33477. All performances start at 8pm and are FREE with a suggested donation of $5 per person.  Listeners can find out more information at www.pbshakespeare.org.

Talked with Mike Durkee, US Army Combat Veteran, Executive Director, Wounded Veterans Relief Fund.  "Wounded Veterans Relief Fund is a non-profit organization that supports wounded and disabled veterans throughout Florida with one-time emergency financial support and critical dental care. We are a VA affiliate and work hand-in-hand with VA team members to provide veterans with the care and resources needed to ease the burden of financial strain that often accompanies disabilities incurred during military service."  WVRF has a lot of great events/fundraisers coming up.  
Cox Science Center & Aquarium Hometown Heroes Event Saturday, June 21st, 2025, 13th Annual Treasure Coast Bonito Blast Friday-Saturday, August 8th-9th, 2025  Pirates Cove Resort and Marina, 4307 SE Bayview St, Stuart FL 34997, and the Devil Dog 5k/10k Sunday, September 28th, 2025 7:30AM South County Regional Park.  For more info, to become a volunteer or sponsor, listeners can go to www.wvrf.org.  

Talked with Michael Barnett, Director of Development, Restoration Bridge International.  Their mission  "has been to provide consistent and reliable access to nutritious food for individuals and families in need, while promoting community resilience and self-sufficiency. Through compassionate service, strategic partnerships, and unwavering commitment, we strive to restore dignity and bridge the gap between scarcity and sustenance for a healthier, hunger-free future."  Restoration provides a much needed food distribution system in Palm Beach County.  They do a food distribution event every Saturday at the Boynton Beach mall starting at 9am.  For folks who want to volunteer, the arrival time is 5-6am.  For more information on the services provided, to become a volunteer or sponsor, listeners can go to www.restorationbridge.com

Talked with Lauren Perry, Associate Vice President of Marketing & Cultural Tourism, Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.  Every May, the Cultural Council puts together, MOSAIC. MOSAIC stands for Month of Shows, Art, Ideas and Culture.  There's a month-long celebration for residents to enjoy. As part of that, the Cultural Council gathered over 30 limited time offers throughout Palm Beach County.  Some of them are: BOGO admission to the Boca Raton Museum of Art and the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, discounts on shows from the Kravis Center including Cimafunk on May 23 and "Ain't Too Proud" coming in June, plus discounts at Palm Beach Zoo, COX Science Center, Yesteryear Village Living History Park at the South Florida Fairgrounds, Scavenger hunt at Resource Depot, and discounts at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Listeners can interact with artists and check out their work during Open Studio on May 17/18. For locations and more info, listeners can go to MOSAICPBC.com.  For info on the Cultural Council, listeners can visit www.palmbeachculture.com

Talked with Carmelle Chapman, Project Manager, Healthier Lake Worth Beach.  It's a Palm Health Foundation Healthier Together community. The Healthier Together communities focus on different aspects of health based on the local community needs.  Healthier Lake Worth Beach focuses on behavioral health.  They are improving the behavioral health by revitalizing the community. With the help of community volunteers, HLWB has done community clean ups, created neighborhood crime watch, worked with local government/code enforcement to identify folks that need help and submit a referral to connect them with the service.  They also, did a wide outreach about the fate of the unity wall.  The residents, government, artists came to together and chose to keep the unity wall and they revitalized the wall to reflect the history and future of the city.  For more information, to become a volunteer, make a donation or set up a company give back day, listeners can call Carmelle at 561-801-2182 or [email protected]

Talked with Kelly Powell, CEO and Julie Khanna, Development Committee Chair, for Community Partners of South Florida (CPSFL).  "Community Partners of South Florida (CPSFL) changes the odds for children and families facing social, emotional, and financial adversity. CPSFL identifies key services and solutions that build family skills and create lasting social change for generations.CPSFL  targets three strategic areas at once: health, housing, and community."  May is "Get your Green On" for Mental Health Awareness Month.  CPSFL takes a wraparound approach to services including mental health services for children and adults, classes on financial literacy, work to prevent homelessness, help clients with affordable housing, whether that's renting or attaining their goal of home ownership. They also have mentorship programs, "mentees on the move" as well as Bridges neighborhood hubs where folks can access services.  To get more information, sign up for services, sign up to become a volunteer, or make a donation, listeners can go to www.cpsfl.org. Julie is also the Editor-in-Chief for The Well of PBC. The Well of PBC is an online publication that focuses on behavioral health and wellness.  And this month's "Get Your Green On" publication is available at www.bewellpbc.org.

Talked with Mindy Hanken, MSW, Executive Director, Tenise Williams, School Counselor and Laylah from Pace Center for Girls.  There are pace centers throughout Florida.  The Pace Palm Beach school provides academic and behavioral health services to girls ages 11-17 in Palm Beach County School Districts. Pace is free and the students take classes along with working closely with counselors, therapists trained in trauma-based therapy, tutors, etc.  Pace also helps with life skills, such as shopping, getting your first job. "Pace helps reduce juvenile justice involvement, increases high school graduation rates, and fosters long-term success for girls and their families. By creating a ripple effect of positive change, Pace strengthens the community by cultivating confident, educated, and engaged young women who are ready to contribute meaningfully to society."  For listeners who are interested in volunteering, becoming a mentor, making a donation, becoming a corporate sponsor or enrolling in the school, they can reach out to www.pacecenter.org.

Talked with James May, Executive Director and Misty Stoller, Associate Director of Marketing & Communications, Mounts Botanical Gardens.  "With a mission to inspire and educate through nature, Mounts Botanical Garden is Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden. Visitors to this 20-acre tropical oasis will see an acclaimed collection of 25 unique garden areas containing more than 7,000 species of tropical and sub-tropical plants, including Florida natives, exotic and tropical fruit trees, herbs, palms, roses, cactus, bromeliads and much more. Mounts Botanical Garden is part of the Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Department, in partnership with the University of Florida and the non-profit Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden.   Located at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach, Mounts Botanical Garden is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm (with last entry at 3 pm). Admission is $20 for adults; $18 for seniors, college students and military with IDs; $13 for ages 6 to 17; and free for children under age 6, Mounts members, and RAP (reciprocal program) members.."  They have a Spring Plant Sale and Family Fun Weekend coming up on April 26th & 27th.  Listeners can enjoy the gardens, check out presentations from guest speakers including Kirsten Hines, Mindi Ogden, UF Professor, Dr. Kimberly Moore, Ph.D. and Dawn Conrad from Conrad-Sunrise Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society.  They have over 70 vendors and lots of fun family events too.  For more info, to become a volunteer, member or make a donation, listeners can go to www.mounts.org.

Talked with Emilie Travis, Nature Center Manager II, Okeeheelee Nature Center and Alissa Koch, Nature Center Manager, Daggerwing Nature Center, Palm Beach County Parks.  They are getting ready for this year's Earth Day events.  Okeeheelee Nature Center will celebrate on April 19th starting at 10am and has a wide variety of programs planned including: a tranquility walk, rehabilitated animal release, selfies with Oakley and Shelfies with Sparky the gopher tortoise. Listeners can also enjoy Earth Day celebration at Daggerwing Nature Center on April 26th starting at 10am. They have a wonderful butterfly garden visitors can enjoy as they enter. Some of the events include a scavenger hunt on the boardwalk, rehabilitated animal release, animal ambassador naming contest and fun crafts,plus a plant sale.   For more information on Earth Day events, becoming a volunteer or a Friend of the Park, listeners can go to pbcparks.com or follow on Facebook/Instagram.

Talked with Val Staggs, Founder, Pandora's Kids.  Pandora's Kids is a non-profit that provides grief services for children who've lost a loved one.  They are free program that unites kids that are grieving, providing them a place to talk, meet other kids, expeirence new events and share their grief knowing they aren't alone.
"Pandora’s Kids partners with local organizations to provide experiences that are fun and create the opportunity for new friendships to form among kids in grief. At various times throughout the year, we offer music, art, equine, sports and other programs for kids to choose from. Programs are age-appropriate, run for a series of weeks and are developed with the help of our team of therapists. Registered PK Kids are eligible to participate in the programs of their choice based on age requirements and availability."
Coming up on April 26th, they have an event at Pike Food Forest, where the kids will be able to explore and learn about the edible landscape, plants and ecosystem and participate in a hands-on art project as well.   They are also, participating in a fundraiser with Oceana Coffee for the month of April.  Guests can drop a "bean" into the Pandora's Kids box and they'll recieve a donation from the fokls at Oceana Coffee.  For information on signing up, becoming a business sponsor or making donations, listeners can go to www.Pandoraskigs.org.