The Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County opened up three health clinics for parents to take their kids to get back-to-school services for the upcoming year.

The free clinics will provide school, sports and wellness physicals including immunizations for children in kindergarten through grade 12, according to a news release.

The services have to be made by appointment and are available on select dates Monday through Thursday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Boca Ciega High School, Gibbs High School and Pinellas Park High School.

A parent or guardian must bring the child’s immunization and medical records and be present with them for the appointment. If parents cannot be present, they can fill out a form in advance to be brought to the appointment.

Any Pinellas children entering kindergarten on Aug. 12 or any students enrolling in the state for the first time have to present a school entrance physical, dated within one year of school enrollment. 

Vision screenings and basic dental services will also be available. Assistance in obtaining glasses and eye exams for those without insurance will be provided for people who qualify at all locations from 8 a.m. to noon. The dental services including oral health assessments, hygiene instruction, sealants, fluoride treatment and referrals are available at Pinellas Park High School. 

The clinics are a partnership with the Juvenile Welfare Board, the Pinellas County School Board, Suncoast Center, Inc. and the administrators of Boca Ciega, Gibbs, Northeast, Largo and Pinellas Park High Schools. 

The upcoming dates are July 29-31 and Aug. 1, 5-8 at Gibbs High School; July 24-25, 29-31 and Aug. 1, 5-8 at Pinellas Park High School; and July 29-31 and Aug. 1, 5-8 at Boca Ciega High School.

For appointments, parents can call 727-824-6900 and select option four. The clinics will be open until Aug. 8. 

View the article as originally published at https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/pinellas-county-free-health-clinic-screenings-back-to-school/67-78a74759-a893-4e66-8e64-aa31b9342f49

What You Need To Know

• For the past seven years, JWB has taken a Summer Book Bus on the road to give away free books to children of all ages in under served communities across Pinellas County.
• Reading on grade-level by the end of third grade is an important predictor of high school graduation and future success.
• JWB says working collectively, “we are addressing the five core factors that impact third-grade reading proficiency: school readiness, school attendance, summer learning, parent and family engagement, and healthy readers.”
• By the end of the summer, the book bus will have stopped at 80 community locations and given away 12,000+ free books to more than 6,500 children

On this colorful book bus, a group of kids enjoying summer camp got to pick two books to take home Tuesday.

Mahagoni Jones is 6 and is in heaven, especially after finding a book she knows she will love. 

“I watched this show before,” said Jones, jumping up and down. “It is like, Sweet Strawberry Cake, I watched this before and I really like peoples and kitties so, I picked this one.”

The book called Puppy Love is at her reading level, but she also chose a book to challenger herself, too. It was much thicker, with a lot more words. 

One of the goals of this but is to not only get books into the hands of kids in Pinellas County, but to also keep elevating their reading ability. 

“Our campaign, the Pinellas Campaign for Grade Level Reading, it focuses on getting kids reading at grade level by 3^rd grade. And we are not quite there yet,” said Brianna Ray, JWB Community Collaborations Coordinator.

The Summer Book Bus Program is run by the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.

Pinellas County’s third through tenth grade reading proficiency scores were recently released by the Florida Department of Education. Pinellas scored a 56% which puts them at 15th best statewide. 

By 2025, JWB wants to see the third grade level scoring 70% proficiency. 

Daniel Achille, who is going into first grade, picked two books with confidence. 

“A caterpillar,” said Achille when asked about his favorite book. He loves The Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar. 

By the end of Summer, the Book Bus will have traveled around Pinellas County hitting 80 locations. 

It will reach roughly 6,500 kids with the goal of handing out 13,000 books. 

Read the article and watch the news segment with interview as originally published at https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2024/07/02/pinellas-juvenile-welfare-board-reading

Two book buses will be traveling across Pinellas County giving away free books throughout July to combat summer learning loss and instill a love of reading in kids.

The Juvenile Welfare Board’s Summer Book Buses hit the road on Monday for the seventh year to start giving away more than 12,000 new books in underserved communities in the county, according to a news release.

The school buses were remodeled into a mobile bookfair on wheels and will be at libraries, recreation centers and other public spaces during its 80-stop tour. Kids can climb aboard and pick out two books to take home. 

Brianna Ray, a community collaborations coordinator with JWB, said they are expecting to see about 6,500 kids. 

“There are a lot of laughs. There are kids who read out loud on the bus as they look through the books so a ton of excitement when they’re on there,” she said. 

The board partners with Pinellas County Schools as a part of their Campaign for Grade-level Reading, which strives to get kids to be able to read on grade level by third grade. Ray said the buses help kids achieve these milestones and not lag behind over the summer when there’s no school. 

The book buses will be in various cities such as Palm Harbor, Clearwater, Largo, St. Petersburg and other places across the county Monday through Thursday for the first three weeks of July. They will not be giving away books on July 4. 

You can view the full list of stops here. 

Read the article and watch the news segment with interview as originally posted at https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/summer-book-buses-pinellas-county/67-b80d0fbf-77a8-44df-a487-80368323a90e

The Juvenile Welfare Board and its Summer Book Bus are on the road once again, delivering free books to children in underserved neighborhoods across Pinellas County.

With the phrase ‘Inspiring lifelong readers, one book at a time’ on the side of the bus – it is scheduled to make nearly 80 stops at community sites from Tarpon Springs to South St. Petersburg in July and will be giving away more than 12,000 brand-new books to thousands of children. 

Stops include public libraries, community recreation centers, neighborhood family centers, childcare centers, and more.

At each stop, children can get on the bus and select two free books. 

It’s all part of JWB’s Early Readers Future Leaders Grade-Level Reading Campaign, helping mitigate summer learning loss while instilling a love of reading in kids of all ages.

The bus tour is in partnership with Pinellas County Schools.

For more information on the bus tour, click here

See the article as originally published at https://www.fox13news.com/news/book-bus-visit-underserved-neighborhoods-giving-free-books-kids

Caden Harris, 14, could have relaxed at home in Atlanta and likely had his pick of speaking engagements following a trip to the White House. A local group of community partners brought him to Pinellas Park to speak to other young people.

Caden is the founder and CEO of Caden Teaches, which now generates over six figures annually. He graduated high school at 13, and has also authored four books.

St. Petersburg-based BayFirst Financial, the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County and several local organizations, like the James B. Sanderlin Family Center, ensured hundreds of area children could learn from the business prodigy. Chris Hackney, president of small business lending for BayFirst, emceed the June 27 event at the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center.

“Exposure goes a long way with financial literacy,” Hackney said. “The hope is that kids understand there is a way they can take control of their finances, and they don’t have to wait until a certain age to start.”

Hackney credited Joanna Braddock, club event coordinator at Bayfirst, for the idea. She found Caden’s recent appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America inspiring and realized his message aligned with the bank’s Cash Kids Club’s mission.

The program provides a savings account with a special interest rate for minors. They also receive budgeting education, financial literacy tools and swag.

The June 27 event was only open to members and those who received an invitation.

Multiple area neighborhood centers contributed financially. Hackney called the event a true collaboration among community partners.

“It was really a matter of bringing someone in who looks like the students in our Kids Club,” he explained. “That would inspire them to understand … you don’t have to be 20 or 30 or wait until you’re a working professional to take your finances seriously. You can be a kid, just like Caden.”

Caden started his financial literacy business at 7. He now travels the nation in a bus retrofitted to include a mock bank, grocery store and learning stations to teach kids about money and budgeting.

Entrepreneurialism is in Caden’s DNA. His family established Atlanta’s first African American Hotel, and his sister launched a nutrition company. The boy’s father began taking him to business meetings at 5.

Most kids do not share that lineage and upbringing. Teaching your child to budget and invest is exponentially more difficult for a single parent struggling to put food on the table.

Hackney hopes the Kids Club and event empower youth to take control of their financial future and avoid learning the hard way. “What we’ve found is, the message might resonate a little bit better if it is someone in their peer group,” he said.

“And I think they were inspired by his presentation.”

Caden stressed the importance of budgeting and saving. He also encouraged his peers to consider the benefits of investing money rather than spending it on a new gaming console. Hackney said the children enjoyed how Caden gamified his presentation with takes on Jeopardy and Family Feud.

Hackney said he could see “lights go on” in the minds of the mostly elementary and middle school-aged attendees, who also understood the magnitude of speaking at the White House. He told the crowd that “nothing separates you – other than this stage – from being a Caden Harris.”

In a subsequent social media post, Caden said he was “elated” for the opportunity. “It was inspiring to see so many young minds eager to learn about managing money and building a secure financial future,” he wrote. “A huge thank you to BayFirst Financial and Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County for making this event possible.”

Hackney noted that for many kids, the event was likely their first time learning those financial lessons. He hopes it stokes curiosity and that attendees will now utilize various local and online resources to foster fiscal responsibility.

After the event, Hackney spoke to 50 students affiliated with the Pinellas County Urban League about the importance of saving and investing. However, he plans to continue hosting younger financial literacy experts with better odds of resonating with local youth.

“BayFirst is here to support financial literacy in the community, and this is a continuation of that goal,” Hackney added. “Whether you’re a young member of our Cash Kids Club or a senior in our Trendsetters Club. As a community bank, that’s our responsibility.”

Robbi Stivers has joined the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County (JWB) as CFO. He is responsible for development and use of sound fiscal and contracting policies and practices to support JWB’s mission and activities while furthering its strategic plan.

Stivers brings more than 20 years’ experience in government finance, most in higher education, plus banking and insurance. He holds a BS in Business Administration from Tennessee Wesleyan University, an MA in Organizational Management from Tusculum University, and is a Certified Government Financial Manager via the Association of Government Accountants.

Learn more at https://www.jwbpinellas.org/juvenile-welfare-board-welcomes-robbi-stivers-as-new-chief-financial-officer/.

See this article as originally published at https://www.tampabay.com/sponsored/2024/07/01/robbi-stivers-joins-pinellas-county-juvenile-welfare-board/

What’s Good In Tampa Bay
Ann Kelly discusses the food gap with Juvenile Welfare Board CEO Beth Houghton, and their proactive approach to make sure families in need have fresh food this summer with free food distribution events. For additional information on their collaboration with the St. Pete Free Clinic, visit their site at www.jwbpinellas.org.

Listen to the interview:

This summer there will be four more opportunities for families in Pinellas County to receive free fresh food from a drive-through mobile food pantry. The next food pantry is scheduled for Saturday, June 29th in Palm Harbor and the first food drive served over 400 families this past Saturday.

An email news release from the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) and St. Petersburg Free Clinic (SPFC) provided details about this and the other five free food events that they anticipate will help feed about 2,000 families.

LISTEN:

JWB’s Chief Executive Officer Beth Houghton says the groups will distribute fresh food. She says these events are important to a lot of families.  “Things like housing are getting more expensive, other things are getting more expensive, and while wages are moving up, they are not keeping up. Particularly for families with middle incomes or lower.”In addition, Houghton says a lot of kids rely on their school to provide meals for them. “The estimate is in Pinellas County, 1 in 8 kids are food insecure. It doesn’t mean they are starving, but it means on any given day they might miss a meal.”

“JWB is committed to ensuring no child goes hungry. We invest $4.2M in bulk food with the St. Pete Free Clinic, which then distributes to food banks and pantries across Pinellas County,” Houghton said. 

According to the press release, each “family will receive a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, proteins/meats, dairy, eggs, cereals, canned goods, and more – approximately 52+ pounds of food per family. A total of 21,000 pounds of food will be given away at each event, which equates to 126,000 pounds of food distributed across the six events when summer ends.” 

Here is a list of all six summer food events: www.jwbpinellas.org/calendar/free-summer-food-for-families/

Read the article as originally published at https://www.wmnf.org/palm-harbor-saturday-pinellas-families-get-free-fresh-fruits-vegetables-meats/

MANATEE COUNTY

Britney Vela is doing what she knows best, serving food to people in need. She has been working at Our Daily Bread in Bradenton for 10 years. As the food pantry manager, she ensures all the food is organized and the volunteers are on task.

“If we weren’t here, and you were hungry, how would you get a meal? You’d end up breaking a law, having to go somewhere or dumpster diving. Being able to prevent that is a blessing,” she said.

She said giving free food and warm meals is a blessing that people desperately need right now.

“The price of food has gone up. Rent, gas. And they live off a fixed income, and their checks aren’t going up. But the cost of living is. So thankfully for them, we’re here and we can, you know, help with that,” she said.

Britney says more people need help. Our Daily Bread produced 20% more meals this March compared to March 2023. Their food pantry has increased production by 40% compared to this time last year, helping more than 10,000 people save money and get the food they need.

“That makes them able, you know, to have that extra money to meet rent, meet their light bills, meet their water bills and their kids,” she said.

They serve roughly 300 families every day with food pantry items, basic care products, and meals.

“Protein is important. Kids are growing,” she said. “Everybody deserves to have a good dinner. Everybody deserves it. Nobody should go hungry,” she said.

Britney knows what it’s like for people who need help because, at one point, she did too. She had just moved to the county as a single mom of two young kids with only $200 in her pocket.

“Just being able to know that help and now what that help feels like is a blessing, a very big blessing,” she said.

She’s already made a difference for her family and is now offering the same help to those in need.

The soup kitchen is open every single day from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The pantry is open Mondays and Fridays 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

PINELLAS COUNTY

There was a food drive through event in St. Petersburg on Saturday to help fill the gap this summer for families in need.

One in eight kids in Pinellas County are food insecure, which is why local organizations hosted a drive-thru food pantry for the summer.

The Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County and St. Petersburg Free Clinic are hosting six drive-thru pantry events for the summer, and the first one was on Saturday. Officials tell us that this summer they will be feeding more than 2,000 families. They explained why this summer is crucial to fill the gap for families compared to past years. Officials say it is because of the increased cost of basic necessities like groceries.

Each family will receive more than 50 pounds of food at each event. That includes items like fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat, as well as canned goods and other non-perishable items. Altogether, at the end of the summer, they will have donated 120,000 pounds of food to families in the county.

Beth Houghton, CEO of the Juvenile Welfare Board, said, “And so this summer, you have this time where rents have been going up, utilities have been going up. Wages are not going up as much. Food costs are up for families really in a crisis this summer, more than we’ve seen for a few years.”

Their next drive-thru food event will be on June 29 at the Feast Food Pantry in St. Petersburg.

Watch the Bay news 9 interview with JWB CEO Beth Houghton at https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2024/06/23/more-families-in-need-of-food-in-the-tampa-bay-area-