Brandon/Winthrop
33
September 2023
Volume 18, Issue 9
Ph: 813-657-2418
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CELEBRATING 21 YEARS OF PUBLISHING P OSITIVE COMMUNIT Y NEWS
LIFE’S TREASURES THRIFT STORE CELEBRATES 10 YEARS IN BRANDON By Lily Belcher
Osprey Observer 2109 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. Valrico, FL 33596
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Life’s Treasures pa area. One of the Thrift Store in Branmany programs is the don is celebrating 10 Chapters Health Valor years of serving the Program, which helps Brandon community first responders, vetthrough the store and erans and their famits support of LifePath ilies who are facing Hospice’s patient and life-limiting illnesses. family programs in The Brandon store, Hillsborough County. opened on SeptemIn recognition of the Store manager Kelli Stephens and mer- ber 23, 2013, is the chandiser Hope Wolf help make Life’s milestone, a celebrayoungest of five Life’s Treasures a welcoming place to shop. tion was held at the Treasures stores in the Brandon store for volTampa area. It has over unteers and customers, 100 volunteers who help including snacks, live create its welcoming, music, gift basket giveclean and spacious shopaways and a 50 percent ping atmosphere. off sale on the entire Hope Wolf has volstore. unteered at the store The support of the for nearly 10 years. As LifePath Hospice proa merchandiser, she is grams would not be responsible for decoratpossible without the reving the store, including enue generated by Life’s switching out displays to Treasures Thrift Stores. showcase new items to “One of the biggest customers. Life’s Treasures Thrift Store offers things that we say here thrifted items to the Brandon com“Everyone is so friendat the store is every munity to support LifePath Hospice. ly. I’ve met lots of nice $500 in sales that we generate we are able people,” Wolf said. “This is a good cause. to send a kid to our children’s grief camp,” … You feel kind of good that you’re here to said Brad Powell, director of thrift stores. help them.” LifePath Hospice also offers free bereaveIn its 10 years in Brandon, the biggest ment services to all community members challenge Life’s Treasures has faced was and fulfills wish requests for its patients. how quickly the store grew. When it es“It’s a real saving grace for the loved tablished the location in 2013, it didn’t exones that need to take that somewhere,” pect how fast the community would fill the Powell said. “And we’re more than happy store. However, with a growing customer to take it on because it helps us push our base, it had a growing number of volunmission forward.” teers from teens to veterans. There are five Life’s Treasures Thrift “They’re our engine,” said Powell about Stores in Hillsborough and Pasco counties the volunteers. “Without them, we couldn’t that operate in support of LifePath Hos- do it.” pice under the Chapters Health System, To support Life’s Treasures Thrift Store, and through the revenue raised at the visit its Brandon location off U.S. Highway stores along with donations from generous 60 and Pauls Dr at 1335 W. Brandon Blvd. customers, $2.7 million has been donated For more information, visit www.chapterto support programs in the Greater Tam- shealth.org.
For the first time ever, ZooTampa at Lowry Park has hatched endangered Komodo dragons, significantly increasing the numbers of the world’s largest lizard. There are only an estimated 1,400 adult Komodo dragons left in the wild. The six new dragons from mother Aanjay (age 13) and father Titus (age 12) started hatching Aug. 21, after a nine-month incubation.Visit www.zootampa.org or follow along on Facebook and Instagram.
FORMER BRANDON HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER MERCEDES HERNANDEZ CELEBRATES 99TH BIRTHDAY
By Lily Belcher
Retired Brandon ed her passion was High School teacher teaching. Mercedes Hernandez She maintained a celebrated her 99th close connection to birthday on August her family and friends 21. With nearly five and Cuba and would decades teaching in visit before Fidel Casthe area, Hernandez tro took over. She was has seen and made in Cuba for a vacation changes to the Branto see her family the don community. day Castro took over “The Lord decidand got on the last ed to make me [live plane out of Cuba. long]. I wouldn’t have Brandon High School teacher Mercedes “She didn’t see dreamed I would live Hernandez celebrated her 99th birthday her parents for like this long,” Hernandez 10 years. It was a on August 21. said. long time. She would Hernandez said she sneak through Canhas stayed busy in her ada to fly down to 99 years by working Cuba to give them and traveling. She besupplies because they gan working at Brandidn’t have anything,” don School before Tyson said. it became Brandon She is also one of High School. With the only living foundher chemistry backers on the Women’s ground, she taught League of Brandon AP Chemistry to her and supports the Rohigh schoolers before tary Club. She played retiring. an instrumental role “She taught so in starting the night many students,” for- Mercedes Hernandez’s passion for teach- school at Brandon mer student and ing and care for the Brandon community High School and led to her legacy in the Brandon area. close family friend helped World War II Kimberly Tyson said. “We figured it out veterans who were drafted during high statistically. She probably taught over school finish their education. 4,000 people in her lifetime.” “She really just decided ‘I don’t really After a year of retirement, she went need to get married,’” Tyson said Herback to her love of teaching at Hills- nandez told her after she was widowed. borough Community College, where she “’I don’t really want to have children. I worked for 10 years. have children. I teach them every day. “She was always able to keep our These are my kids.’ It was her passion attention on what we were trying to and her life to teach.” learn is the best way to put it,” Tyson said. “She wasn’t boring to listen to and sometimes she would interject a story about one of her travels.” HCA CANINE CHARLIE ...................PG 3 Hernandez was born in Key West, but HOWL-O-SCREAM ..............................PG 5 her extended family is from Cuba. After finishing her education in the United AREA FALL ACTIVITIES .............PG 12 States, she worked for three years as EYE ON BUSINESS................PGS 25-26 a chemist in Cuba. However, she decid- FALL FOOTBALL.....................PGS 28-29
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