Bekki
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
We are very active with the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation. My husband has PKD and he had a kidney transplant almost three years ago. We've been super active in fundraising and creating awareness. Our family hosts a casino night every year in the spring time. It's always a great event and we've raised over a million dollars in the last nine years. My brother was my husband's kidney donor, so it's really an important cause for us and for our family.
Stuart And Shari
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
Beth Am is our number one community and where we dedicate ourselves. Shari oversees the Beth Am day school as well as the day school auction every year. Each year they raise enough to fund scholarships so that every kid can go to Jewish day school. She is also in charge of their summer camp. On a personal level, the one organization that we do a lot of work with is called the Victor Center – which raises money for the prevention of Jewish genetic diseases. Shari speaks all over town about getting tested to see if you have the gene. Technically, if two people with the same genetic mutation have a child, there is a 25% chance the child will be born with a potentially fatal disease. Sadly, insurance companies won’t pay for the expensive genetic tests, however they must pay for a child born with complications. The Victor Center raises money to cover the cost of tests to help parents know if they are a carrier of a genetic disease.
Miles
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
I volunteer coach at South Miami United Football Club. I'm a booster for Coral Gables Senior High School athletics. But, I started going to city hall meetings when there was talk of converting a neighborhood park. It was my first foray into city hall meetings and stuff and I saw that really we're not getting the best people for these positions. I think it's important that we realize that it takes a group, and once you get a group of voices together there's a lot of power.
Jessica
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
I go to a lot of workshops at the Sacred Space. It’s a community. I feel like there's such a power when people come together and support each other. It's more than just a yoga studio. Last week, there was somebody that taught about human design, which is about your authentic code.
Pete
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
As a family, we've felt the best way to reach the community is through our local church. We attend, Christ Fellowship's Palmetto Bay campus. Through the church they have, Carring for Miami, which helps the homeless in different parts of the city. Also on a regular basis, they do 'Love Miami', which is where they inspire members to do something in their local community and pitch in towards the greater good.
Jacob
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
I like Send It 4 the Sea. They do a lot of local cleanups.
Rich
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
I'm real big on the environment and just trying to keep the bay waters clean and protect the critters around here and push back on some of the zero-line building. I don't think I do enough to help, but certainly the Pelican Rescue, and Guitars over Guns on the civic and the youth side. We've gotten involved with the Audubon Society. Anything that protects the environment and improves our landscape other than concrete buildings.
Julie
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
Common Threads, The Education Fund. Debris Free Oceans, Surfrider Miami, VolunteerCleanup.org,
Noah
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
I am involved with the Baptist Foundation as part of Miami Cancer Institute, which supports our research.
Robyn
Are there any community events or groups that are important to you and your family?
One group that we've been involved with for the entirety of my girls' lives is called Friend of South Florida Music. They're a wonderful nonprofit that provides music educational to underserved communities. A couple other groups that are near and dear to my heart because of my daughter's condition is the Coalition Against Pediatric Pain. Also, US Pain Foundation. Both work with children living in chronic pain, whether it's something like my daughter has or any other type of condition. They provide family camps in the summer and a lot of support for families going through this. It's not just the child that has to deal with it, but it affects the entire family. So they've both been amazing in our journey.