Good 4 You: S. Floridians Spread Good Will In 2011
MIAMI (CBS4)- For almost three years, CBS 4 news has been committed to bringing viewers a series of reports dedicated to highlighting the people in the community doing good things.
Some of the highlights to our week-long series from 2011 included 12-year-old Max Zager who was on a mission to help children.
Zager sold bracelets to raise money for medically necessary chairs for the children at Abi's Place, a school in Coral Springs for children with disabilities.
"There are things we take for granted like walking and sitting up straight," Zager said.
We also headed to a jewelry party where Janet Sierra showed off her creations to mark her survival from a life threatening surgery to remove a five pound tumor.
"They gave my family a zero percent chance of survival," said Sierra who donates the proceeds from her "All Religions" Jewelry line to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
A different kind of party took us to Coral Gables for a night in Bollywood. The party is meant to help raise money to help the orphans in India, orphans who are left alone on the side of the road.
"It really hits you hard when you see children fighting animals for food," said Matthew Meehan, a south Florida business man who has built Sunil's Home to house and school some of India's 80 million orphans.
"All these third world countries where children are left to fend for themselves… No one should have to live that way," said Meehan.
Helping those battling breast cancer is a family running two local pizzerias. One is in Plantation and the other in Davie. Antonio's Pizza Rant donated a dollar from every large pie ordered during the month of October to Susan G. Komen.
"This disease has touched so many families and so many customers that this was a way for us to give back," said Todd Reiss, owner.
Also fighting the disease, Phyllis Utter, a hair stylist at Salon 46 in Hollywood who donated her time to put in pink hair extensions to raise money to fight breast cancer.
"I want to see pink hair very where and all over Hollywood," said Phyllis Utter
Finally, our Good 4 You segment took us to Haiti where 11-year-old Rachel Wheeler built an entire village. Wheeler had 27 concrete homes built in a fishing community each with two rooms: an area for beds and a living space.
Wheeler simply asked for donations to rebuild Haiti from corporations and regular people. It snowballed and raised $175,000.
"I like helping other people. It makes me feel happy," said Wheeler.
The year 2011 has been a wonderful year with South Floridians doing wonderful things.
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