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Community Service Fall 2002 HighlightsFLF&M
Presents 45 Teens
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Responsible Choice Awards were an incentive to attend the safe, fun all-night party. LaDonn Braxton, a recent graduate of Chiles High School, told us she attended Project Graduation "to win some prizes and have fun while being safe." Bret Hader had similar sentiments about the Godby High Project Graduation, "I went to Project Graduation to spend one last night with all my friends and to have fun and be safe at the same time." Kimberly Jobe said of her Florida State University School Project Graduation, "I chose to attend because I knew it might be the last time to see everyone from school and that there would be great prizes like this one!"
Hopefully, next year's program will encourage even more young people to make the smart, responsible choice to attend Project Graduation. Congratulations again to all our of the 2002 Responsible Choice Award winners!
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Each of these students made the safe, smart choice to attend Project Graduation and walked away with a $100 award from Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer. (Click here for a fact sheet on Project Graduation.)
FLF&M
is cheering for the Leon High Cheerleaders as a Leon Pride White
Sponsor. With support from sponsors such as FLF&M, the girls were
able to recently buy new uniforms. Money raised by the cheerleaders
also goes toward Homecoming events.
FLF&M
helped the Chiles High football program kick off its season with
its Silver sponsorship of the Chiles High Touchdown Club. Pictured
are Junior Varsity Coach Farmer (left) and Elliott Messer.
Firm
administrators Sandra Tate and Jennifer Frick continue to be actively
involved in community projects through the Legal Administrators Association
of Tallahassee (LAAT). Longtime volunteers at the Lighthouse Children's
Home, LAAT recently partnered with Riley Elementary School to assist
with its school supply drive. "It was so exciting when the LAAT volunteers
delivered a truckload of supplies," said Sandra Tate, past president
of LAAT. "One lady in the school office said they'd given away their
last backpack and was thrilled to see more. It was obvious they were
well appreciated and would go to good use."
Learning
from THE GREATS
St.
Clair Murraine, DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Published May 7, 2001 — Reprinted
with permission, Tallahassee Democrat
Tripp Maloney was like most 6-year-old kids: playful and chatty with a tendency to wander into his own little world.
 Photo by Craig Litten, Tallahassee Democrat |
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Hal
Lewis purchased jerseys featuring |
Recently his parents noticed a change in the way he pays attention to details.
"I have noticed in the last couple of months that his focus on things has increased when he is not participating in them," said Tripp's father, Rob.
So what brought on the big change? Baseball.
"He has matured a little bit because of it," Rob Maloney said. "Baseball is hard to teach kids when they are 6 and 7 years old because there is a lot of down time. You have to get them to pay attention and focus on what's going on."
Tallahassee attorney Hal Lewis initiated the plan that got Maloney's son and 29 other children involved in baseball. Lewis, a passionate baseball fan and historian, has been teaching the children the fundamentals of baseball for the past three months in a non-traditional way that included a history lesson on some of the players who excelled at the game.
It started with his decision to get his 7-year-old son, Halley, in pitch-and-hit play. He also wanted them to know that baseball was a lot more than multi-million dollar contracts and home run records.
"This was good for them in that it helped preserve baseball as a tradition," Maloney said. "Of course, today all you hear about is salary caps and complaints. This was really a nice throwback to the fundamentals of baseball and what you're supposed to teach kids when they are 6 and 7 years old."
Lewis invested $2,500 in replica jerseys of baseball greats such as Reggie Jackson, Lou Gehrig and Willie McCovey, who Tripp depicted. The players, all students at Maclay School, were put on teams representing the American and National leagues. They played a seven-game series that they called a "World Series."
"It made a huge impression on me because they went through so much work to get each individual name and the jerseys," Karen Frazee said.
Frazee's son, Jack, participated as Roberto Clemente, and her daughter, Elizabeth, the only girl participating, wore Hank Aaron's jersey. Like the rest of their teammates, their favorite player's names and the numbers they wore in the majors were on the back of their jerseys.
The parents were so impressed with the concept of teaching the children baseball and its history through legends of the game, they reimbursed Lewis for the price of the jerseys.
"They could have just put together the baseball team and just had their real names instead of having the authentic names," Frazee said. "I've learned a lot about it too. I didn't realize there were so many players out there."
The children knew the accomplishments of the big league players they emulated. Some even recited statistics and other achievements that made them heroes of the game. The youngsters say they won't soon forget the experience.
 Photo by Craig Litten, Tallahassee Democrat |
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A group of children sporting the names and numbers of baseball Hall of Famers watch baseball practice at Maclay School. |
"This is fun, and I've made friends who I'm never going to forget," said Blake Cavell, wearing Reggie Jackson's No. 44 and his name on the back of his Oakland A's jersey.
On Saturday, the Series ended in a 10-10 tie after both teams entered the final weekend tied at three games apiece. Margaret Downs was there to see her grandson, Slade, as she had been for every game and practice.
"He is my grandson and I won't miss a thing he is involved in, academics or sports," she said with pride as though Slade was actually Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, whose jersey he wore. "It's wonderful because of the camaraderie between the boys. It gave them something else to do besides study."
About 100 parents and friends witnessed the showdown game from behind home plate at Maclay School's baseball practice field. Being Jackson wasn't easy for Cavell on a day when the World Series title was at stake.
"I got kind of nervous because I didn't know if I was going to hit the ball," he said, "and there were a lot of people watching."
The experience was more than just hitting and running bases for these youngsters.
Each player had printouts on every player they emulated, the idea being to teach them the history of the men who were trailblazers of the game. They also had access to a Web site (www.LewisBaseballCards.com) that houses Lewis' card collection.
When it was time to play ball, Lewis, who pitched to the children, and his catcher, Benji Wilkinson, had plenty of work to do. Some of the kids had experienced T-ball but had to adjust to having the ball pitched to them. Early in the program, most didn't know that each man has to cover his position and not all run to the ball at the same time it was hit.
There was a noticeable difference on Saturday. They played a ballgame, demonstrating the kind of fundamentals a little leaguer should know.
"It thrills me to death to see," Lewis said. "To see those kids who have never played baseball being able to swing and hit every pitch, field the ball and throw other kids out really satisfied me.''
As
Income Development Chair for the Florida Division of the American
Cancer Society, Jim Messer is dedicated to eliminating cancer as
a major health concern.
Messer participates in programs to increase the public's awareness of active roles they can take to protect themselves and their loved ones. One campaign is "Tell a Friend Tuesday," a phone chain encouraging women to get mammograms during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. The first "Smoke Free Dining Day" in Florida, that took place in mid-November was another huge success as local restaurants went smoke-free to increase awareness of the American Cancer Society's tobacco control efforts.
One out of every four deaths in the U.S. is from cancer. This year about 552,200 Americans are expected to die of cancer- more than 1,500 people a day.
"We're trying to get an important message across. There is so much we can do individually and as a society to help control cancer. We want to broaden the number of people we reach using programs that focus on early detection. We feel this is the key in winning the fight against cancer," said Messer.
It
is also important to celebrate those who have survived cancer. The
7th Annual Leon County Relay for Life, which will take place in the
spring, does just that. Cancer survivors are invited to begin the
Relay for Life by walking the Survivor's Victory Lap around the track.
Following the relay is a special Luminary Ceremony, where candles
are lit in memory of those who lost their battle with cancer and
in honor of those who continue to fight. Please look for more information
on how you can be a part of the 7th Annual Leon County Relay for
Life in your next issue of Law Talk.
"There are so many opportunities for people to get involved. Whether it's volunteering at one of our Hope Lodges or encouraging our lawmakers to make cancer a top legislative priority, we need your support," said Messer. For more information contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or www.cancer.org.
When
it comes to doing it all, John Foote doesn't mess around. In addition
to the long hours spent serving FLF&M clients, Foote spends much
of his free time working with Habitat for Humanity where he served
as the local chair on the Board of the Young Lawyers Division of
the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. Foote and other members of
our FLF&M family helped to build four houses in Tallahassee last
spring.
"I get great satisfaction from being able to step back and physically see something that I helped to create. Knowing that each nail I drive into a piece of wood ultimately contributes to facilitating shelter for a deserving family gives me tremendous piece of mind. I try to instill these values in my own family," said Foote.
© 2008 Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer
At
Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer, we believe in the importance of focusing
on young people making the right decisions, instead of only those
making wrong or unfortunate ones. We also believe that rewarding
responsible behavior is the key to maximizing it. 