Community In The Know

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness Month calendar available

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so Charlotte County Community Services has developed an interactive Mental Health Awareness Month activity calendar that encourages county residents and visitors to “Get Up, Get Out and Get Active.” According to National Recreation and Park Association, 93% of U.S. adults say that activities offered by local park and recreation professionals and their agencies benefit their mental health. Calendars are available at all recreation centers, pools and libraries, and are available for download online at CharlotteCountyFL.gov/recprograms.

For information, contact Breanna Benevenga at Breanna.Benevenga@CharlotteCountyFL. gov or 941-235-5008.

Licensing repealed for cabs and clairvoyants

Charlotte County commissioners repealed local license requirements April 23 for taxicabs, fortunetellers, clairvoyants and palmists in Charlotte County. Due to the passing of House Bill 807 and F.S. 163.211, local licensing of occupations is expressly preempted to the state of Florida. These trades will be regulated solely by the appropriate agencies.

For more information, contact Community Development at 941-743-1201 or CommunityDevelopment@CharlotteCountyFL.gov .

Rotarians donate $5,000 to Imagination Library

Charlotte County Imagination Library, an affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and a program of Gilstad Literacy Foundation Inc., received a donation from Charlotte Harbor Rotary to support the program, which mails a free book to enrolled children every month from birth until age 5. The generous donation of $5,000 was presented by Stephen Carter, club foundation chair, and Robert Stromberg, club president, to Dr. Christine Zimmer, executive director of Gilstad Literacy Foundation Inc. at their meeting in March. This is the eighth year that Charlotte Harbor Rotary has donated to Charlotte County Imagination Library. Its total donations to date are $37,500, These funds have provided 1,500 preschool children with a total of 18,000 free books.

To learn more about the Imagination Library program, to enroll a preschool age child or make a donation, see www.charlottecountyimaginationlibrary.org or www.imaginationlibrary.com .

Madeleine Googins is the recipient of the 2024 Betty Gissendanner Memorial Scholarship.

Lemon Bay HS student gets Democratic Women’s Club scholarship

The Democratic Women’s Club of Charlotte County (DWC) has announced that the recipient of its 2024 Betty Gissendanner Memorial Scholarship is Madeleine Googins, a resident of Placida and a senior at Lemon Bay High School in Englewood. Googins is an all-around scholar athlete and citizen of her school community. She is currently taking four college-level courses for a total of 14 Advanced International Certificate of Education), Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses by the time she graduates. She is involved in seven extracurricular clubs and is an officer in three of them. Also, Googins is a varsity athlete in two different sports. She has reached these levels of achievement despite her family experiencing dire housing and business circumstances after Hurricane Ian.

Googins plans to attend the University of Central Florida. Her professional goal is to become a family dermatologist.

The Betty Gissendanner Memorial Scholarship is awarded to Charlotte County young women who are graduating from high school and are registered or pre-registered as Democrats. They are chosen based on the characteristics that illustrate the values that were so important to Gissendanner as a Charlotte County Democrat: civic engagement, equal opportunity, women’s rights and scholarship.

To learn more about, or to donate to, the Betty Gissendanner Scholarship Fund, see dwccharlotte.com . ¦

The post Community In The Know first appeared on Charlotte County Florida Weekly .