You’re a winner! You’re a winner! You over there, too! All of you, in fact, can step right up and accept your award.
In a fun twist reminiscent of an Oprah Winfrey show, every nominee (14 in all) in five categories was declared a winner at the 211 Stars of the Space Coast Awards, which annually recognizes nonprofits doing stellar work throughout Brevard County.
The Friday ceremonies, at Space Coast Health Foundation’s Center for Collaboration in Rockledge, attracted a roomful of past winners as well as 2024 nominees and other nonprofit representatives. At most every seat, there was someone who has worked to better locals’ lives, whether they strive to feed the hungry, house the homeless or address issues ranging from early learning to suicide prevention and domestic violence.
While in the past, individual winners were chosen, it was an easy decision to go with an across-the-board winner’s circle, said Belinda Stewart, 211 communications manager and organizer for Stars of the Space Coast:
“As we were planning this year’s awards, the 10th annual, and selecting finalists and winners, we realized that every one of these honorees deserved to be a winner,” she said.
“And it seems like the perfect special touch for the end of a decade of this celebration: Every agency’s a winner because every agency does the work of a winner.”
And those agencies work hand-in-hand with 211, which answers almost 40,000 calls and texts yearly in Brevard and is increasingly taking on a role that supports people after that call or text, Stewart said. In 2022, 211 Brevard became one of the 200-plus centers involved in the nationwide 988 launch. They’d been part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network of crisis centers since it was started in 2005 with a 10-digit national hotline.
Libby Donoghue, 211’s executive director, reflected on the past year, the challenges ahead and gratitude for the hard work of all or 211’s partners given the volume of local need and how fast time can fly.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that’s given to us and that feels like it could be the mission statement for all of us in this room,” Donoghue told the crowd.
“We are always struggling to figure out how we can best use the time and resources we have, and most of the time it seems like we don’t have enough of either one … we can’t turn back time; we can’t save it in a bottle. We’ve just got to figure out how best to use it because that’s our job. That’s what we do. That’s how we change lives.”
Winners provide wide range of care in Brevard
This year’s winners assist Brevard residents, from infants to those of advanced age and in diverse life situations, with an incredible array of needs and services.
They are:
Space Coast Credit Union Supernova Award: Aging Matters in Brevard, Brevard County Legal Aid, Salvation Army North-Central
Viera Company All-Star Award: Serene Harbor, Salvation Army Domestic Violence Program
CBRE/Imperial Plaza Superstar Award: Early Learning Coalition of Brevard, Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard, Lifetime Counseling Center
Kelly Haskins of Merritt Island, left, seen with her son, Hunter, and husband Andy, started the nonprofit “Do It For Hunter” in the wake of her son’s suicide. The nonprofit was named for a “Rising Star” award at 211’s Stars of the Space Coast Awards ceremony Dec. 6.
Carr, Riggs & Ingram Rising Star Award: Do It For Hunter, Mutual Aid Brevard, WAYS for Life
Publix Super Markets Charities Community Star Award: House of Hope, Lockmar Baptist Food Pantry, St. Vincent de Paul Our Lady of Grace.
More: United Way of Brevard campaign has ‘You Changed My Life’ theme and $5.2 million goal
Antony Pulido, client health navigator for Parrish Health Network, praised the work of 211 and all its partner agencies.
“Many of our neighbors are working through difficult circumstances during these times,” he said.
“But there’s hope. And through our collective efforts, we’re making a real difference. Through the unwavering commitment of organizations like yours, we are making a real difference in the lives of our families, friends, neighbors during their most difficult moments.”
Grassroots efforts, big gratitude
For one group founded on Facebook in 2020 as the COVID pandemic dug in, being named a “Rising Star” is an honor and a call to action, too.
Volunteer-driven Mutual Aid Brevard quickly became a page and place where residents could seek and offer help with needs ranging from housing requests to utility bills, gas money, rent, car payments and repairs, insurance, doctor bills and more. Administrators work quickly to address emergency needs.
More: When people scour Facebook for food help at midnight, we have a problem | Opinion
Four years later, it has assisted thousands of people and has more than 22,000 members. Some have received aid and are paying it forward; many just want to be part of seeing families get the assistance they need. Its finances are under the umbrella of Merritt Island Presbyterian Church.
“It was quite an honor for Mutual Aid Brevard to be recognized,” said Leslie Mitchell, a Mutual Aid administrator.
“As a grass-roots, volunteer-run, zero-overhead Facebook group, we’re humbled to be recognized alongside so many amazing and worthy organizations. Getting to know the folks at 211 has been crucial to our learning process and we’re so grateful to them for including us in this ceremony. It is a real joy to just be in the same room with all of these entities that work so hard to make life better for Brevardians.”
Britt Kennerly is education/breaking news editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Kennerly at 321-917-4744 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bybrittkennerly Facebook: /bybrittkennerly
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Every nonprofit nominee wins at 211 Stars of Space Coast awards