THE PEOPLE, the businesses and the government bodies of Winter Haven, Polk County and Central Florida have been very good to Tucker Paving, Inc., since our company’s founding in November 1994. So, with a sense of gratitude, we count it an honor and a privilege when we’re able, in kind, to help out local organizations and causes when the opportunities present themselves and the causes are good and just and mesh well with our company values.

Recently, two outstanding local organizations held fundraisers for two very worthy causes. Tucker Paving not only co-sponsored the events, several of our team members participated in each of them and seemed to enjoy themselves very much.

The first fundraiser, held in February, was the 2018 Winter Haven Hospital Foundation Shooter Showdown. The site for the seventh-annual event was the Florida FFA Leadership and Training Center in Haines City.

The other fundraiser, held in early March in downtown Winter Haven, was the annual Winter Haven Police Department 5K for Florida Special Olympics.

We mentioned both of these events on our Facebook page and also shared several photos of participating Tucker Paving team members.

Here, briefly, are the causes each of the fundraisers helped.

WINTER HAVEN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION

All proceeds from the Shooter Showdown will be used locally by the Winter Haven Hospital Foundation to support the most urgent patient care needs at Winter Haven Hospital and its Winter Haven Women’s Hospital. Tucker Paving is a longtime supporter of the foundation and the hospitals it serves.

By way of background, the mission of Winter Haven Hospital Foundation, Inc.,  is “to provide an effective channel for individuals and organizations that wish to support Winter Haven Hospital in its mission to improve the health of our community by providing high-quality, compassionate care.”

The foundation is an independent, Winter Haven-based, not-for-profit charitable organization governed by a board of volunteer trustees. The foundation “cultivates philanthropic support to provide patients with state-of-the-art medical care, cutting-edge technology and equipment, and the best-educated and trained personnel.”

For more about the foundation, visit its website. For a PDF copy of the foundation’s Vision 2020 document, click here.

FLORIDA SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Law enforcement agencies all over the Sunshine State are regular supporters of Florida Special Olympics, Inc., an accredited not-for-profit charitable program of Special Olympics, Inc. The first International Special Olympics Games was held in 1968 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Florida Special Olympics was founded in 1972.

According to its website, “The mission of Special Olympics Florida is to provide year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for people with intellectual disabilities who wish to participate, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.”

Florida Special Olympics serves more than 44,400 athletes and offers training and competition in many team and individual sporting events. The organization reports that it has more than 31,000 coaches and volunteers statewide — in addition to supporting bodies like the Winter Haven Police Department and Team Tucker Paving.