St. Petersburg Fire Rescue has partnered with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, the Suncoast Safe Kids Coalition and Treasure Island Fire Rescue to give away children’s life jackets. The event takes place Saturday at the City of St. Petersburg Municipal Beach at 11260 Gulf Blvd. in Treasure Island from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. and coincides with the start of Spring Break.
Julie Rocco, founder of What I Would Have Missed, is looking for up to 30 artists willing to participate in a suicide prevention program that helps people gain hope, healing and happiness. Artists will receive $500 compensation, and the application deadline is March 31. For more information, visit the website here.
The Hidden Voices Project, in partnership with St. Petersburg City Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders, Quis For Life, The Well, Moms Demand Action and several other organizations, is holding a “Stop the Violence” walk and gathering Tuesday. The event, scheduled from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Wildwood Park, is to raise awareness of violence and shootings in St. Petersburg.
The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is soliciting proposals for “on-the-ground habitat restoration and water quality improvement projects” until March 15. Awards range from $25,000 - $250,000, but organization officials will consider other proposals. The program requires a cash or in-kind match, and for more information, visit the website here.
The St. Petersburg Fire Rescue and Aquatics Departments are partnering to raise money to help local children learn how to swim. The 4th Annual Firefighter and Lifeguard Car Wash Fundraiser takes place Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Northwest Pool at 2331 60th St. N. in St. Petersburg, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. To date, the two departments have raised over $14,000 and provided over 1,000 children with free swim lessons.
The Sheriff’s Citizens Association (CA) is looking for small, local organizations to receive $1,000 grants. Interested organizations must provide youth empowerment programs, youth-initiated projects or provide support to children and their families. To download an application, visit the website here.
Max and Nancy, two St. Petersburg rescue dogs from the Compassion Kind rescue center, will compete in Sunday’s Puppy Bowl XIX. The two will join 1,200 other rescues, and the game will air at 2 p.m. on Animal Planet and stream on Discovery +. Max and Nancy will also participate in a viewing party from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Petersburg’s Dog Bar.
The metropolitan planning organization Forward Pinellas was awarded the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation this month. The grant funds totaling $559,074, which will be allocated to Forward Pinellas’s Safe Streets Pinellas Action Plan within the six areas of the county with known road safety issues, according to a news release.
Local nonprofit healthcare organizations Empath Health and Suncoast Hospice are in “dire” need of all types of volunteers. The organizations lost 30 to 50% of their volunteer staff during the pandemic, and many are not returning. For more information on how to help address a great need, visit the website here.
The nonprofit organization Feeding Tampa Bay, which focuses on providing food access to families, held a groundbreaking this week at 4000 Causeway Blvd. in Tampa for the new home of its expanded HQ. The Catalyst first broke the news in 2021 on plans for the 217,000-square-foot center. The new HQ is expected to be complete in 2024 and will more than double its current footprint.
Kierstyn Benjamin, a junior marine biology student at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, recently helped rescue a small, distressed manatee in Bayboro Harbor. Benjamin was doing homework in the library last week when she noticed it floating alone in the adjacent harbor. Upon further inspection, she realized something was wrong and called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Wildlife Hotline. FWC officials rescued and transported the manatee to Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park.
