It would be tough to tally up the hours Gene Hink has devoted to helping local nonprofit agencies and people in need. But Florida Blood Services has kept a careful count of the blood the Brandon man has donated over the years. To commemorate a lifetime donation total of 75 gallons - that's 600 pints - Hink was inducted into the Fenwal Blood Technologies' Donation Hall of Fame on Oct. 11 at the Kennedy Donation Center in Tampa. ...more

November 7, 2009

It would be tough to tally up the hours Gene Hink has devoted to helping local nonprofit agencies and people in need. But Florida Blood Services has kept a careful count of the blood the Brandon man has donated over the years. ...more

November 4, 2009

It's not much of a gamble to plan an event when the community benefits, said Aubrey Primrose, chairwoman of the Leadership Brandon Alumni Association's ninth annual Casino Night. ...more

August 13, 2008

Twelve Brandon area charities may find the current economic slump a little easier to weather thanks to the Greater Brandon Community Foundation. ...more

July 23, 2008

AVON PARK — Just in case they haven't been paying attention to the news, Judy Puffen gave high school students a personal account of what Iraq is like: frequent sandstorms, constant danger, grinding poverty, unvarying boredom. "Please let me come home before I die," former Sgt. 1st Class Puffen said she would think. She was one of the first American soldiers to go there after Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced in 2003. "It was all sand over there," she said. "The first thing I wanted to do when I got home was kiss the grass. It was like biblical times. The houses were made of adobe — mud." "What kind of weapon did you carry," asked one student in Amy Love's American History class. "An M-16," Puffen said, a 22-year veteran. Even though her job was administrative and financial, she carried a rifle. ...more

February 23, 2008

AVON PARK — The new Veteran's Service Center will be built this year. So what's next? The Sebring Community Based Outreach Clinic is too small, and veterans have to drive more than 100 miles to see specialists or have an operation performed, a group of former soldiers and sailors told U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney on Thursday in a summit at the Avon Park High School library. ...more

February 22, 2008

Brandon '86 Rotary Club held its annual Denizens of the Deep Southern Family Fish Fry in November. The event is one of several the club hosts to raise money for charity. ...more

January 16, 2008

To do it right, major marketing groups agree that it takes months of research, surveys, cold calls and focus groups to come up with a successful branding campaign. ...more

January 10, 2008

AVON PARK — Sharon Buckler was waiting for her husband Wednesday morning at the Sebring VA Outreach Clinic. "The doctors here are fantastic," said Buckler, whose husband, Vietnam veteran James Buckler, was in with Dr. Andres Cordoba. "The service is great. The nurses are friendly." A year ago, a Washington Post investigation of Walter Reed Army Hospital showed peeling paint, holes in the bathrooms, mouse droppings, dead cockroaches, stained carpets and cheap mattresses. Decades ago, deservedly or not, some Veteran's Administration hospitals had terrible reputations. A quick tour of the Sebring VA Outreach Clinic showed no such problems. ...more

January 10, 2008

Anyone who happened to drive past the Brandon Lions Clubhouse at 610 Limona Road on Nov. 17 might have noticed men and women playing in the sand. ...more

December 8, 2007