On Tuesday, September 30th, Miami Dade County’s Deputy Mayor Russell Benford shared an official proclama!on from the county declaring the day, Touching Miami with Love Day. This presenta!on occurred at Touching Miami with Love’s first annual our BIG Dreamers Award Luncheon in the Treetop Ballroom at Jungle Island as we honored those who have helped fulfill BIG Dreams for the Overtown children, youth, and adults we serve.
Event guests heard stories from one of our parents, Joyce, whose 4 children have all attended TML. Joyce shared of the impact of TML on her children’s lives and thanked supporters in the crowd for making it all possible. We also heard from former participant and now TML staff member, Isaac, who shared how TML helped him stay on track to graduate, enter college, and later join our staff as a TML coach.
Miami Dade County officially proclaims September 30, 2014 as “Touching Miami with Love Day” in honor of our BIG Dreamers Award Ceremony.
BIG Dreamer awards were presented to our longtime partners. First among them was Florida CBF with Coordinator with Ray Johnson accepting on behalf of the many churches and individuals who make up the Florida CBF network. We’re grateful for CBF FL’s beginning BIG dream in 1996 of raising $800,000 to purchase a building for TML and expand our work and for their con!nuing support today. We also honored Christ Journey with Pastor Bill White accepting on behalf of the many in the church family who have served on our board, volunteered, and par!cipa!ng in their many City Serve outreaches at TML. Lastly, we gave an award to Amy Zambrano founder of a community group on Key Biscayne, Island Angels. We recognized her outstanding contributions to TML through her in-kind dona!ons and fundraising efforts for TML that included single-handedly raising funds for the purchase of our 30 passenger mini-bus!
Bill Hansen of Bill Hansen Execucutive Catering, brought words of inspiration and challenge to the guests. His impres-
sive bio includes catering for four U.S. Presidents, Pope John Paul II, and champion Super Bowl teams. We’re excited to have Bill bring his over 45 years of entrepreneurial experience to our middle school students through a newly. From Kindergarten readiness to college success, Touching Miami with Love has been empowering the children and youth of Overtown since 1995 and we honored three BIG Dreamers.