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Boca Raton Marine becomes first female sergeant major of expeditionary unit
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, NC – Sgt. Maj. Octaviano Gallegos, Jr. relinquished the duties of sergeant major of 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit to Sgt. Maj. Lanette Wright aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, March 14. Wright became the first female MEU sergeant major in the history of the Marine Corps. She is a native of Boca Raton, Fla. “Today is a chance for me to serve the Marine Corps at a higher level, I’m humbled and thankful to be able to take over this position,” said Wright. “Being a Marine leader, this is a great opportunity to be able to expand on my leadership.” Wright assumes duties for the 24th MEU after leaving the Command Inspector General office, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, as the senior enlisted advisor. Her personal decorations include two Meritorious Service Medals, three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. Wright accepts her new duties during Women’s History Month; 71 years after the Marine Corps began accepting women into recruit training. “It’s a historic day, but I don’t want to make this about women, it’s really just about being a Marine and taking the opportunities to serve the Marine Corps,” said Wright. “I wouldn’t say I opened any new doors for women in the Marine Corps. There are plenty of opportunities, we just haven’t reached them due to the sheer number of women in the Marine Corps.” Wright enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1989
Shop Smart Do Good Event benefits local non-profits at Lord & Taylor Boca Raton
Shop Smart, Do Good: A Fundraising Day is a special event hosted by Lord & Taylor in support of local fundraising organizations. Last year the program raised $515,000 for non-profit organizations. The inaugural event in Boca Raton will benefit more than 20 area non-profits including Aid to Victims of Domestic Violence American Association of Caregiving Youth, American Cancer Society, Anti-Defamation League, Big Dog Ranch Rescue, Boca Raton Society for the Disabled/ Twin Palm Center, Boys & Girls Clubs, Can’t Tell Foundation Faulk Center for Counseling, Florence Fuller Child Development Centers, Florida Poodle Rescue, Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, Junior League of Boca Raton, KidSafe Foundation, Mount Olive Development Corporation, National Council of Jewish Women, Spirit of Giving Network, Tri-County Humane Society, Women in the Visual Arts, and Zonta Club of Boca Raton. Participating organizations sell $5 tickets and keep all of the proceeds. Each ticket is valued at $5 and includes two 25% bonus coupons with limited exclusions and a 15% savings pass to be used throughout the day on almost everything including cosmetics and fragrances. Throughout the day, the store will be animated with music, performances, food, wine tastings and live art. The event takes place on Thursday, April 3 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Lord & Taylor Boca Raton, 200 Plaza Real in Mizner Park.
Jane Pauley visits Boca
Katherine Turk, Vice President/Private Client Manager (L) with Century Risk Advisors (CRA), with renowned television broadcast personality Jane Pauley (R) at the Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services (JFS) “Reflections of Hope” Luncheon that took place at Boca West Country Club on February 27th. Century Risk Advisors (CRA), a leading South Florida-based risk management and insurance agency, is a proud corporate sponsor of Ruth and Norman Rales Jewish Family Services. Jane Pauley served as keynote speaker of the “Reflections of Hope” Luncheon.
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and deployed in support of Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, and Unified Protector. The command wishes Sgt. Maj. Gallegos the best on his future assignments, and they look forward to working with Sgt. Maj. Wright, said Col. Scott Benedict, commanding officer of 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Boca Raton Marine Sgt. Maj. Lanette Wright
“I’m looking forward to having Sgt. Maj. Wright come onboard to the MEU and having another two years of fantastic leadership,” said Benedict. “She brings a great background to the unit, she has experience with expeditionary units and also experience with many of the Marine Corps major operations over the last 20 years. She brings the type of leadership we demand from our Sgt. Maj., and I think she’s going to fit in just fine.”
Sea Angels given Awesome Palm Beach award The Pineapple your community newspaper
BOCA RATON CITY DIRECTORY Boca Raton City Hall 201 West Palmetto Park Road Boca Raton, Florida 33432 www.ci.boca-raton.fl.us (left to right) Jeff Pheterson, James Carvin, Michael Halasz, Robin Halasz, Kathy Silverio, Ilan Berkner, Rod Silverio, Matthew Lally, Jeff Brown, Perry The Inventor Kaye, Brian Schmidt, Bill Bathurst
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t the March meeting of Awesome Palm Beach at Bizaare Café in Lake Worth, the Palm Beach County chapter of the Awesome Foundation, met for its Pitch Party and Grant Award and donated a $1,100 micro-grant to Sea Angels Green Beach Clean, Inc. Jeff Brown, one of the co-founders of Awesome Palm Beach, explains the concept, “We give a no-strings-attached grant each month of at least $1,000 to people who do something awesome in Palm Beach County. These grants can go to individuals, groups, companies, charities, self-help groups or any type of entity to support projects in charity, sciences, arts, civic engagement, media, entertainment… just about anything as long as it contributes to making Palm Beach County more awesome! The grants are crowd funded from the trustees of Awesome Palm Beach and from anyone with $100 that attends our monthly Pitch Parties.” According to Brown, “By offering these micro-grants the trustees of Awesome Palm Beach seek to support worthy local organizations and projects for which the money would make a huge impact to the community and the people of Palm Beach County.” Making good on its mission, Awesome Palm Beach recently heard live presentations from a number of non-profit organizations and awarded $1,100 to the local charity, Sea Angels Green Beach Clean, Inc. Sea Angels is a nonprofit organization that works tirelessly to educate people about keeping our seashores and parks clean, by organizing and leading monthly beach clean ups and through a series of educational programs in schools. For Robin and Michael Halasz it is a labor of love. “It’s amazing the stuff that people will leave behind on their beaches,” Robyn Halasz said. “We find shotgun shells, syringes, stilettos. We find so many things on the beach outside of the trash cans that
nothing is abnormal to us.” With so much junk already on the beaches, Sea Angels members use recyclable materials to minimize their impact when cleaning. Instead of giving out plastic bags, water bottles and plastic gloves during cleanups, the group lets attendees use reusable gloves, buckets, reusable plastic cups and grabbers. Picked up items are recycled or repurposed, sometimes in art. They use a green approach, start to finish. Michael Halasz said, “We have been funding this project ourselves, with some help from volunteers. We will use this grant to buy more reusable equipment, and we are grateful for this exposure as an Awesome Palm Beach winner! Thanks Awesome Palm Beach!” About Awesome Palm Beach Awesome Palm Beach is the local Palm Beach County Chapter of the Awesome Foundation. They are a volunteer group that helps crowdfund awesome projects and people that touch lives, and the community in Palm Beach County. They support anything that makes Palm Beach County a more Awesome place, from arts to education, to social media, innovation and far-out creativity. Applications are reviewed on a monthly basis and grants start at $1,000. For more information about Awesome Palm Beach, founding members (called Trustees of Awesome), or to apply for a $1,000 minimum grant, check out more at www.awesomepalmbeach.com About Sea Angels Sea Angels is working hard to keep our beaches clean and for doing it in a green way. Recycling, upcycling, implementation of initiatives such as recycling mono-filament line and recycle bins being placed on beaches as well as providing education are just a some of the things that are being done. For more information or to donate to or volunteer with Sea Angels please visit www.seaangels.org
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