Pasco Kids First

Child Advocacy and Protection

Pasco Kids First

Children's Advocacy Center

Keeping Kids Safe; Strengthening Families

12th ANNUAL PASCO KIDS FIRST FAMILY FUN DAY

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New Port Richey, FL – Pasco Kids First is excited to announce the 12th Annual Family Fun Day presented by AdventHealth, taking place at Sims Park and Orange Lake on Saturday, November 2, 2019.  The event will run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and will be full of activities for the entire family to enjoy.  Hosted by Pasco Kids First, this year’s Family Fun Day combines good old fashioned fun while promoting the health and wellness of today’s family and interaction with first responders.

The Pasco Health Department is partnering with New Port Richey Public Library to hold a Trails & Tales Family Fitness Walk around Orange Lake all day with large pages of the storybook From Head to Toe by Eric Carle will be placed around the lake. Once a child has completed the ¼ mile lap around the Lake, they will fill out a ticket and be registered to win one of two bicycles donated by Firefighters Charities of Pasco which will be given away to one girl and one boy at the end of the event.  Also taking place at Orange Lake, the Florida Suncoast Safe Kids and Healthy Families Pasco-Hernando will be fitting more than 500 children with new bicycle helmets which are first come, first served, free of charge.

This year’s event once again includes a partnership with the Pasco County’s Sheriff’s Office with several units present, including Forensics, Victim Advocacy, Child Protection Investigations, Safety Net, the Mounted Posse and the Missing and Abducted Children’s Unit (MAC Unit), will be on-site to provide information on these vital programs to our community.

Pasco Kids First Family Fun Day has also partnered with the City of New Port Richey’s Fire Department for a fire hose shoot from 10am – 12pm, and the City’s Police Department for a K-9 Demonstration in the afternoon.

Additionally, Pasco Kids First is excited to have the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Rolling Thunder with games and giveaways from 10am – 12pm and several other favorite characters, such as the Chick-fil-a Cow, Spiderman, Snow White and super heroes will be roaming Sims Park.     Ignite Dance Academy will be performing on the big stage at 11am and 1pm with music from Vaya DJ and PCSO Deputy Ashley will be making an appearance to lead his famous Git Up Dance Challenge.

For the third year, Family Fun Day will include a Touch-a-Truck activity including SWAT and Rescue vehicles, ambulance, school bus, police car, dump truck, excavator, tractor, larvacide truck, argo, fogger, motorcycles, Vac Con, tow truck, dental van, Bloodmobile and more.

Children will also enjoy participating in multiple fun crafts and games provided by the 50+ vendors in Sims Park and at Orange Lake. In addition to these activities, kids can have fun with the “all-you-can-bounce” in the three inflatables and 18 foot inflatable slide for $2.00 per person and four food vendors will be available to fill their bellies.

“The idea is to promote a healthy family from the inside out,” states Becky Bennett, Director of Development of Pasco Kids First.  “By having all of these interactive activities for the entire family, we are promoting the family being active together.”

Pasco Kids First’s mission it to keep kids safe, strengthen families through empowerment and enhance our community by preventing child abuse and healing children from trauma.

Pasco Kids First Family Fun Day is sponsored by AdventHealth, Trinity Rotary Club, AllPro Direct Marketing, Ferman Automotive Group, Simply Healthcare Plans, U.S. Water Corporation, Kemp Ruge & Green Law Group, and the City of New Port Richey.

For more information or a complete schedule of events and activity times for the 12th Annual Pasco Kids First Family Fun Day presented by Advent Health, please visit the Pasco Kids First website at www.pascokidsfirst.org, check us out on Facebook at Pasco Kids First Family Fun Day, or call 727-967-7509.

 

PKF Recipient of Young Professionals Grant

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Pasco Kids First was one of four nonprofit organizations who were selected to receive a grant by the Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Group. Brandy Weber, President of the Young Professionals Group presented the checks at the Chamber’s September membership breakfast. The other recipients included Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention, the Angelus and Youth and Family Alternatives. The funds will allow Pasco Kids First to purchase Advanced Tac/ AudioScan devices to be used by the Trauma Treatment Team while treating children who experienced trauma as part of EMDR, an effective therapy for many issues including those with PTSD and anxiety with quick results.

 

Pictured left to right: Kellie Rodriguez, Laura Neri, Stefanie Pontlitz, Kelly Plouffe, Brandy Weber

Boy Scout Chooses Pasco Kids First for Eagle Scout Project

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Lucas Stiber with Boy Scout Troop 246 and his mother Heather toured Pasco Kids First and presented Pasco Kids First President and CEO with a check for $600.19.  For his Eagle Scout Project, Lucas  set a goal to raise $4,000 to coordinate a Christmas in July event for 31 kids in the Pasco Kids First Healthy Families Program with the Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity. He raised thousands of dollars to purchase and wrap gifts of backpacks, school supplies, new clothing, and shoes for the first day of school. Each child also received a stuffed toy. The check was for the remaining funds as a donation to Pasco Kids First to support their work to keep kids safe and strengthen families.

 

Maia Walker

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Meet 7 year old Maia Walker, one of Pasco Kids First’s youngest and sweetest donors. She volunteered with her mom at Trinity Church of Christ organizing items for adults new in recovery. Maia asked “Mom, what about the children?”  So, Maia coordinated a toy, book, school supply donation drive to give to other kids in need.  She collected several items from friends at World of Knowledge Montessori School along with $135 to purchase items to give to Pasco Kids First to give to kids in need.

 

School Supply Drive hosted by Dr. Bodanza

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Dr. Todd Bodanza and his team from Champion Wellness Center/ Conforti Crossroads Chiropractic, Inc. in Trinity held a back to school event to provide 50 kids and teens receiving services from the Pasco Kids First’s Trauma Therapy Program with backpacks full of school supplies. The chiropractic office held a Christmas in July event with their patients and the community with free adjustments and assessments when they adopted from the list of children in need provided by Pasco Kids First.  The total donation was approximately $3,000 of supplies which was a tremendous relief for caregivers and tremendous way to start the school year off.

 

 

The Rotary Club of Seven Springs Rotary

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New Port Richey – The Rotary Club of Seven Springs Rotary presented Pasco Kids First with a check for $2,165.00 as part of their community grant programs from the year’s successful fundraising efforts. The grant will allow the agency’s Trauma Therapy Program to purchase new research based psychological assessment tools to be utilized with children who experienced abuse or neglect.  The Trauma Treatment Team provides victim advocacy and specialized therapy for child victims of trauma, sexual abuse, physical abuse and community trauma.

 

Pictured left to right: Becky Bennett, Kelly Plouffe and Luke Walker

PDK Fraternity Host Back to School Event

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The Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity in Odessa held their 4th Annual Christmas in July event at their fraternity house 11301 Phi Delt Way in Odessa for 32 children in the Pasco Kids First Healthy Families Pasco-Hernando program. This fraternity brothers and Eagle Scout Lucas Stiber  had a Christmas tree, festive decorations and provided pizza and subs donated by Jersey Mikes. The kids enjoyed writing letters to Santa before Mrs. Claus and Santa arrived and provided a wrapped gift to each child. There were 19 school aged children who received backpacks with school supplies and clothing to help them start the school year out right. Thirteen infant and toddler siblings received age appropriate gifts from Santa.

The Florida Alpha Lambda Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa is the only named Fraternity in the United States not associated with a College or University.  The fraternity of 50 brothers of a variety of different occupations including teachers, law enforcement, business owners, doctors and contractors meet weekly at their PDK Banquet Hall on SR. 54 in Odessa.  The rental of the facility support the day to day operations of the Facility and the local charitable endeavors of the Fraternity.

Rob Wolf Named Pasco Kids First President & CEO

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New Port Richey, FL – Pasco Kids First welcomes Robert Wolf as the organization’s new President & CEO. Mr. Wolf brings more than thirty-five years in the higher education industry to Pasco Kids First which serves Pasco and Hernando Counties providing services addressing child abuse and neglect. Most recently, he served as the President of the Tampa Bay Campus of Galen College of Nursing.   Mr. Wolf is skilled in nonprofit organizations, negotiation, coaching, government, and sales and is a strong healthcare services professional.

His background also includes sixteen years as the Senior Vice President of Hillsborough Community College where he served as the second in command for the 47,000 student multi campus college. He also secured the land donation for the college’s fifth campus, developed the college’s Corporate Training Center and assisted in numerous efforts to obtain additional federal and state funding for college expansion services.

Mr. Wolf earned a master’s degree in Business/Public Administration from the University of Baltimore and bachelor’s in Business Administration from Adelphi University.  He was also an Honorary Commander at MacDill Air Force Base. He is actively involved with the Tampa Bay History Center, several Chambers of Commerce and the Tampa Bay CEO Council.

On a personal note, Rob is married and has four children and one granddaughter. In his spare time, he enjoys road biking, golf and traveling with his wife Ellen. Mr. Wolf can be contacted at rwolf@pascokidsfirst.org or 727-845-8080.

Pasco Kids First is a private, not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 as the Pasco Family Protection Team. Pasco Kids First is committed to continuing to advocate for the best interests of children with prevention, assessment, and treatment services through their work as a fully accredited Children’s Advocacy Center. It is their mission to keep kids safe, strengthen families through empowerment and enhance our community by preventing child abuse and healing children from trauma.  For more information about Pasco Kids First, visit www.pascokidsfirst.org.

12th Annual Pasco Kids First Family Fun Day

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Taking place on Saturday, November 2nd, 2019 from 10am – 3pm in Sims Park, New Port Richey, the 12th Annual Pasco Kids First Family Fun Day presented by AdventHealth bringing together activities for the entire family to enjoy, while promoting the health and wellness of families in Pasco County and beyond.

The object of Family Fun Day is to create a fun and safe environment for families to come and participate in a variety of activities together in an outdoor setting. From physical activities to arts and crafts, interaction with first responders to music, this event strives to give families an opportunity to participate in activities together.

Some activities  from last year’s event included: Trails & Tales Fitness Walk with story book pages around Orange Lake by Pasco County Health Department and the New Port Richey Public Library, the MAC Unit, Sargent Safety and Mounted Posse by Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, K-9 Demonstration by New Port Richey Police Department, JSL Children’s Village, Touch-a-Truck activity with a school bus, dump truck, SWAT vehicles and more, DJ, Bounce Houses, Shoot the Fire Hose with New Port Richey Fire Department, Tampa Bay Lightning Thunder Bug appearance! Appearances by some of your favorite characters including Snow White, Mermaids and Sesame Street. Remember “Healthy Lungs at Play.”,

Thank You to our Sponsors

For the list of sponsors and activities, please visit:

The 12th Annual Pasco Kids First Family Fun Day Event Page

 

FMC Foundation of Caring Supports PKF Trauma Therapy Program

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The Florida Medical Clinic Foundation of Caring selected Pasco Kids First as a grant recipient in the amount of $10,000.  The Foundation CEO Angela Pottinger along with Development Coordinator Ami Haberle and Board Member Ashley Jennings toured the Pasco Kids First Dade City Office and presented the check to Pasco Kids First team members. The funds from the grant are being used to provide therapy and case management services for children who have experienced a traumatic event.  The Foundation encourages philanthropy in all its forms; gifts of time, talent and treasure to leverage support from the Clinic, employees, providers, vendors, community groups and individuals. The FMC Foundation of Caring was founded in 2005 and has granted more than $2.5 million to 135 local non-profits who met important community needs. To learn more visit: http://fmcfoundationofcaring.org.

Pictured left to right: Layton Jennings, Ashley Jennings, Dana Selfridge, Angela Pottinger, Angelita Rodriguez, Becky Bennett

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