Bloomingdale/FishHawk
13
SEE ARTICLE ON PAGE 35
August 2021
Volume 20,
Issue 8
Ph: 657-2418
CELEBRATING 19 YEARS OF PUBLISHING P OSITIVE COMMUNIT Y NEWS
RETIRED MARINE & PLATELET DONOR HOSTS COMMUNITY ONEBLOOD DRIVES
By Pauline Derry
people are in need. Elms goes a step further than just donating, however; he also hosts blood drives in the FishHawk area. Places like the Starling Club and Bevis Elementary have each been a host to these drives in the past. The next drive he is putting on is on Saturday, August 28 at the Osprey Club Community Center from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Big Red Bus can be seen throughout the FishHawk community for easy access to donating.
“It’s not terribly painful. It’s a small needlestick. You get free cookies, juice, a T-shirt and sometimes even a gift card,” Elms said. Places nearby such as Moffitt Cancer Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Tampa General are always in need of platelets and blood. Because of this, Elms encourages all people who are in the area and eligible to donate. The blood products are used for a wide range of illnesses, such as sickle cell disease and hemophilia, and helps COVID-19, cancer and trauma patients. Blood is made up of four main components. Red blood cells, platelets, plasma and white blood cells. Each whole blood donation has the potential to save up to three lives. Not only does donating help people locally, but worldwide as well. OneBlood is certified to send its blood out of the United States to countries that need blood because of natural disasters. For more information on how and where to donate along with how to host a drive yourself, visit www.oneblood.org.
Osprey Observer 2109 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. Valrico, FL 33596
Staff Report
A local business is river is a blackwater stream making an impact on a that flows through the park. park in Lithia thanks to a The stream, bordered by red generous donation. maple, swamp tupelo and “Friends of Alafia, Inc. water hickory trees, is ideal is pleased to announce for canoeing, kayaking and that we have been fishing. The campground awarded a $13,000 grant features some equestrian from Mosaic, which we sites for keeping horses onhave used to buy another Friends of Alafia, Inc. was recently site, plus it has a barn and awarded a $13,000 grant from Mosaic, Scag commercial mower which was used to buy another Scag paddocks. To learn more, (a Turf Tiger II, 72” deck visit www.floridastatecommercial mower. model),” said Friends of parks.org/alafia. Alafia President LeRoy The Mosaic Company is Dennison. “We have some one of the world’s leading 40-50 acres of grass that producers and marketers of needs to be mowed with concentrated phosphate and a mower, not a brush hog potash crop nutrients. Mosabehind a tractor. This grant enic is a single-source provider of sures that we have two new phosphate and potash fertilmowers that should remain in izers and feed ingredients for service for years to come.” the global agriculture industry. Friends of Alafia is a 501(c)(3) nonprof- More information on the company is availit, Citizen Support Organization governed able at https://www.mosaicco.com. by Section 258.015, Florida Statutes, established to protect, preserve and support Alafia River State Park in providing resource-based recreational opportunities to the public. The Friends of Alafia raises funds and provides volunteer services to improve patrons’ enjoyment of the park. “In particular, we look out for the needs of mountain bikers, equestrians and hikers/ runners using the park by supporting construction and maintenance of the miles of trails within the park,” said Dennison. Alafia River State Park is located at 14326 S. County Rd. 39 in Lithia (Southeastern Hillsborough County). The park’s 7,714 acres were donated to the state in 1996 by Cytec Industries. The former phosphate mine was called Lonesome Mine, named after the nearby community of Fort Lonesome, a site which was a frontier outpost of the U.S. Army during the Third Seminole War. The mine altered the landscape and created new landforms, such as several small lakes MISHKIN SPEAKS AT EVENT PG 3 and steep grades, popular with mountain bikers who enjoy challenging trails, as well MOTORING TAMPA BAY ................... PG 5 as equestrians and hikers. A forest border- EYE ON BUSINESS...................PGS 25-26 ing the South Prong of the Alafia River was SPORTS ....................................................PG 47 protected from mining. This prong of the
IN THIS ISSUE:
Postal Customer
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PRSTD STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID TAMPA, FL PERMIT #2397
After serving his country, retired Marine John-Michael Elms is continuing to do good by donating blood and platelets through the blood donation center OneBlood. OneBlood is a nonprofit community asset responsible for providing safe, available and affordable blood to more than 200 hospital partners and their patients. Since childhood, Elms has been around those who donate regularly, such as his dad, a first responder. Growing up seeing his dad help his community along with being a Boy Scout and a lifeguard inspired him to start donating at the young age of 16. Now, retired from the Marines, Elms, a FishHawk resident, is donating to cope with his experiences from the war. “Any day you save a life is better than a day you don’t,” he said, referring to the statistic that one pint of blood can save up to three lives. Elms keeps a regular appointment to go in to the OneBlood donation center to donate a ‘triple’ every two weeks, meaning he is able to donate three times the number of platelets than the normal person. This process takes a little longer than a regular Big Red Bus donation but can help when
FRIENDS OF ALAFIA RECEIVES $13K GRANT FROM MOSAIC COMPANY
8/31/2021
The Foam Factory is all about bringing smiles and laughter to people through its unique foam party feature.. For more information, you can visit its website at www.floridafoamfactory.com or www.facebook.com/floridafoamfactory for its Facebook page. See story on page 13.
8/31/2021
