Local folks step up to supply a Merry Christmas

Five-year-old Mariana Montanez and her 6-year-old sister Meredith Montanez arrived Tuesday afternoon to find a room full of Total Home Health employees tearfully waiting for them with a Christmas tree full of gifts.

The two girls are daughters of Mandi L. Montanez, 22, who died after she lost control of her SUV when it hit a wild pig in late November along the Avon Park Cutoff Road just into Polk County.

Iris Iturbe, office manager and director of human resources, read about Montanez's accident and wanted to help the family. At a morning meeting she brought the idea of adopting a family for Christmas to her company in Sebring.

"It was a team effort," Iturbe said.

Alicia Montanez, their grandmother, said that coping with the loss of their mother has been difficult but they are doing their best.

"There are a lot of people who care," Alicia Montanez said.

Last year the company helped a family through the Red Cross and plans on adopting a family for Christmas next year.

"Giving brings up the spirit of Christmas and it's for the kids," Geri Babins, Total Home Health director of nurses, said.

Giving to charity

Generosity is part of the holiday spirit and many locals are giving back.

For the last three years, Diane Levitt has donated candy Santa sleighs to several charitable organizations.

She was looking for something to do without having to spend a lot of money. About three years ago she saw a small candy sleigh at a craft show in Michigan and thought to herself, "I can do that."

She bought candy canes and an assortment of chocolates and began experimenting with different arrangements.

"When I started I never knew how it would end up," Levitt said.

This year she donated about 120 candy sleighs to different charitable organizations, including 50 small candy sleighs to the Veterans Service Office in Sebring and 65 to the Elks.

Levitt's donated sleighs were also raffled by organizations like Relay for Life and Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the money collected went to charities.

The best part of giving to someone you don't know is knowing you've changed someone's mood even for a second, Levitt said.

"Their eyes light up like children."