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What's new at Best Foot Forward?
What an honor to be selected as one of only 18 agencies in the country to receive AT&T Aspire funding. This collaborative grant with our partner, ChildNet, ensures that students in foster care will continue to participate in our Grounded for Life program in Palm Beach County. In addition, our Grounded for Life program will be introduced to Broward county in an expansion component of the grant.
To date, our program has seen incredible success and is changing lives every day. We will continue to provide innovative and effective services to kids in foster care so that they can graduate high school and achieve all of their dreams.
Click here for the PBC School District video of this special presentation.
 THANK YOU to everyone who attended our ribbon cutting ceremony to support BFF! We had an incredible year, with our programs and staff almost doubling in size. We were bursting at the seams in our old office, and are so excited to be in our new larger space. Thank you to the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce for organizing such a wonderful event and always being such great partners. Thank you to Chez Gourmet Catering for donating the food for the event- everything was delicious!
Click here to see pictures from our ribbon cutting!
Thank you!
#whatif...every child had an opportunity to learn and grow and become the best they can be?
Follow #whatif... on Twitter and be a part of the movement. Join in and add your own #whatifs!
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| | Drawing by Samantha |
Summer Book Club!
Our students read "the five people you meet in heaven" this year in our Summer Book Club. While we were not sure if the undertones of the book would be too sad for them, it turns out the opposite effect occurred. They embraced the theme of 'making your life mean something' and really pondered the concept of 'what affect do you have on other people's lives'. Our kids never cease to amaze us! Thank you to LexisNexis for generously funding the cost of the books. Here is part of a letter we received from one of our students following the book club:
"I started doing meditation every morning to feed my soul. I am fighting constantly with the thoughts in my head to live in the present. So here we go, Best Foot Forward motivated me into reading the book, "the five people you meet in heaven." Which is so relating to what I am going through. This book guides me to continue on the right track with meditation. This book talks about rezilliancy by keeping the frogs of the past within you. I love book club because we spend time together and we get to express the reflection of the book. It is awesome to realize the way people gather information of books so different. This book has taught me that we all have different set of mind. Every brain has a different perspective of life. Some of us will agree and some will disagree. That is what makes all of us so different."
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SPOTLIGHT on our SUPPORTERS...
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Meet our partner...the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. Through a two year grant we recently received, we are teaming up to change the outcomes for abused, neglected and abandoned children living in foster care.
The funds received will be used to support our Grounded for Life program and will directly help us provide the same academic opportunities to youth in foster care as all other children.
We are honored to have our program deemed worthy of their support. As one of Florida's largest community foundations, they have invested more than $100 million in grants and scholarships over its 40-year history. The Foundation connects philanthropists to important issues and causes in order to build a stronger community for the future. To learn more, please visit them at www.yourcommunityfoundation.org.
Thank you to the Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton for generously supporting Best Foot Forward. The club is run by the Members for
 the Members, for the sole purpose of making a difference in our Community and the lives of many in an environment that embraces integrity, friendship, camaraderie and trust. The Rotary Club Downtown is dedicated to impacting the Boca Raton Community through their efforts of "Service Above Self." With their support we can accomplish great things this year! |
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BATTLE OF THE BARTENDERS!
This was our 7th annual Battle of the Bartenders and it was amazing!
Held at the Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel, over 300 people came out to support BFF and the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce Festival Days.
We would like to thank all our bartenders for being such good sports and making the event so much fun.
This year the following bartending teams participated:
Margi Cross and Melanie Deyo
Allan & Cica Prince
Jerry & Terry Fedele
Robin Trompeter and Andrew Scott
Tim Snow and Brad Osborne
And the Winning Team...
The Tropical Trio: Roxana Scaffidi, Rosie Inguanzo-Martin and Troy McLellan!!
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Our New Office is Awesome!
One of the best parts of our new office is the hand painted ceiling tiles by some of the areas most wonderful artists. The one pictured above was created by Micheal Israel. They are education themed and so inspiring! Thank you to all our artists: Laura McCutcheon, Cat Chester, Lynn Stender, Lorraine Cross, Ann & Don Schwartz, Eileen Worst, Steve Miller, Vicki Siegel, Ghalia Jawhari, Blake Lewend, and Lowe's Home Improvement. Watch our video of this amazing project courtesy of our Board Member, Jenn Jager and Plum Productions.
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Burgers, Fries and School Supplies!
We had a great crowd at this year's back to school lunch, held at Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth campus. Each student received a certificate for academic achievement, program participation or in recognition of their various accomplishments. They also created their very own Dreamboard, a collage of cutouts from magazines that represent things they strive to achieve, to own, perhaps a place they want to visit, or anything that inspires them. It is a great tool to keep people motivated.
Click here for pictures courtesy of Photography by Crystal!
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Co-Founder Donna Biase danced in the Boca Ballroom Battle to support our partners at the George Snow Scholarship Fund and in honor of all the students who cannot afford to attend college without vital financial support that scholarships provide. Working together is what makes it happen!
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The Samaritans spent the day at BFF completing projects that we needed to prepare for our Back to School event.They also helped us organize our storage area in preparation for the new school year. They accomplished so much and we are very grateful for their support. THANK YOU!!
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Birthday Crew: We are forming a birthday crew of people that can take turns coming in to the office and wrapping birthday presents for our students.
Office Help: We need help in our office each week with basic administrative tasks such as filing, printing, shredding, etc.
Event Planning: Events bring important exposure to our programs and ensure that we raise the funds we need to keep our agency growing. We need people to assist with planning, organizing or running our events.
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