On Saturday, different segments of the Pompano Beach community are invited to come together for an event truly meant to unite them.

The first annual Unity in the Community will be held at Pompano Community Park, 2001 NE 10th St., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is meant to foster unity among various cultural, ethnic and religious groups throughout the city.

Fisher said that when he was first elected to the Commission in 2002, the city celebrated a Unity day, but that the event soon fizzled out. He suggested bringing back something similar that was more secular — which is how the Unity in the Community event was born.

The Rev. William Clark, a retired pastor serving as president of the board of directors for the event, said one of the best things about the event is that everything is free including admission, food and entertainment.

“This is our inaugural event, this is a big deal,” Clark said. “We're expecting a really good turnout.”

The first annual Unity in the Community will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Pompano Community Park, 2001 NE 10th St.

FOLLOW THE NEWS ON FACEBOOK!

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (1) | Share:

Zona Fresca, a fresh, quick-service style restaurant that features the type of Mexican cuisine it's co-owners grew up eating in Southern California, recently opened a new location in Pompano in the Beachway Shopping Plaza, 800 N. Federal Highway.

“We picked this spot because it was renovated and a highly visible location,” said co-owner Tim Dobravolskis. “We’ve had a great response so far.”

The restaurant uses fresh ingredients, Dobravolskis said, a trained chef.

“We’re kind of a hip 'taqueria,'” joked Dobravolskis, who stressed that all items on the menu must be healthy and made to order.

While he’s been in the restaurant business for nearly 12 years, co-owner Oscar de Armas said he had absolutely no background in food service before opening the first Zona Fresca location.

He had the idea to open a Mexican eatery, de Armas said, because he and his wife — fresh from Glendale, California — couldn’t find a Mexican place in South Florida they liked.

“We would try restaurants here and it just wasn’t the Mexican food, it wasn’t the light fare we were used to,” said de Armas, who moonlights as a financial advisor.

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (1) | Share:

As part of its grand reopening last week, Office Depot in Pompano Beach handed out packs filled with school supplies and made donations to three local nonprofits as part of an effort to give back to the community.

About 200 packs filled with essential school supplies were distributed to each of the three charities, and each received a check for $200 as well, according to Mary Wong, president of the Office Depot Foundation.

“In this day and age, when there are so many companies and so many foundations that are pulling back because of the economy, this is one of the programs we have expanded,” said Wong, who called the sack-pack giveaway a “keystone” program for the Office Depot Foundation.

Giselle Reid, executive director of the Broward Children’s Center Foundation, said she was delighted to be on-hand for the festivities. The Office Depot Foundation has been supportive of her nonprofit agency, which serves special-needs children from newborns to age 21, in the past as well.

“Office Depot has been very good to us for a while,” said Reid, who said the foundation made the same donation when it first opened the store on McNab Road, as well as when another store opened in Pompano Citi Centre. “Eighty-nine percent of the children that we serve are low-income, so whenever possible we try to make sure we get whatever we need donated … it was wonderful.”

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (1) | Share:

Pompano Beach City Commissioners tentatively approved a tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year, and also passed a preliminary budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, at its first budget hearing on Monday.

The new tax rate is $5.20 per $1,000 of a home's assessed value, meaning that the owner of a single-family home in Pompano valued at $145,000, who receives a standard homestead exemption, would pay $494 in city taxes — about $28 more than last year.

Only City Commissioner Barry Dockswell voted against raising the tax rate, just as he did last year, because he didn't think city leaders did an honest job of looking at how city government could run without raising the tax rate. The tax rate is a 6 percent increase over last year’s rate.

The city will be taking in about $1.4 million less in revenues in the coming year, with a proposed budget of $110.6 million. The 2011 budget had $212 million in the general fund.

FOLLOW THE NEWS ON FACEBOOK!

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (0) | Share:

Maria Rincon moved to Broward County from Colombia when she was just eight years old. She didn't speak English, and she didn't understand U.S. culture.

But just 10 years later, the Pompano High School graduate is excelling at both and starting her college career at Harvard University. Moreover, she's the first in her family to attend college.

Now 18, Rincon credits much of her success to the Take Stock in Children Program, which offers students the promise of paid tuition to a state college in exchange for a guarantee that they will attend school and remain drug and crime free.

“It gave me more motivation to be a good student so I could get into college,” Rincon, said who initially planned to attend Florida State University. “It was like a doorway to college.”

While Rincon decided to bypass the financial assistance and attend an out-of-state school she is one of five students from Broward who were recently awarded a Leaders 4 Life fellowship as a part of the Take Stock in Children Program.

Mark Asofsky, president/CEO of Twin Star International in Delray Beach, who is on the board of directors for Take Stock in Children, founded the Leaders 4 Life fellowship last year.

“What we do is we provide all of the other expenses that are required for college: room and board, transportation, health insurance, books, lab fees - everything else involved,” Asofsky said.

All children involved with the Take Stock in Children program are eligible for the Leaders 4 Life fellowship. Each county office is eligible to submit up to three of their students.

In addition to college expenses the fellowships also offers internship assistance. Rincon was also one of 12 students selected to receive a new computer through the program.

“She's a remarkable young woman,” Asofsky said of Rincon. “Maria just had a leadership [quality]. As an entity, when we define what we are looking for, Maria clearly demonstrated that in a clear way.”

The Pompano Beach student also plans to attend the annual Leadership conference for fellowship program alumni.

“It's not like a one-year thing,” Rincon said of her award.

Asofsky said the application period for the next batch of awards given out this January begins now. County officials will start working with high school seniors to determine eligibility now through October.

For information on the Leaders 4 Life fellowship, or the Take Stock in Children program, visit www.takestockinchildren.org.

FOLLOW THE NEWS ON FACEBOOK!

> Discuss this entry

Permalink | Comments (0) | Share: