Hey, my
loyal bloggers… it has been a while since I have had the privilege of blogging.
Today I come to you with new updates and I will share with you all a new
organization I have discovered.
So, let’s
begin… last week I was honored to have been invited to the annual thanksgiving
banquet for the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch organization in Safety Harbor. I
have never been in this part of the Tampa Bay area before, so the notion of
just getting to visit the area was exciting in it of itself- add free food and
man it’s a party! Major Lol. I was invited by no other than a top employee of
the association, so I also got an Uber tour when we arrived at the camp.
They have a
full outdoors basketball court and playground areas for the kids/youth who reside
there with the caregivers. There are several homes in this camp, each home hosts
up to 10 kids, with a set of caregivers (fulfilling the role of mother and
father). They have other buildings assigned for the chapel and dinning area. It
truly is a nice campus overall.
As soon as
we entered the dinning hall, I was amazed on how nice the décor looked.
Everything was neatly set up with fancy colored napkins and several silverwares
(which to be honest I was a little intimidated by). I was introduced to several
of the fellow members of this organization and I had the privilege of sitting
next to a Hillsborough deputy (which was my eye candy of the night) shhhh don’t
tell him. Hahhahaha. Anyways back to the important things, this banquet was to
recognize the people who volunteer, donate, and work alongside the Florida
Sheriffs Youth Ranch. The main focus of this entity is to bring about change in
the course of young people’s life aka the kids/youth. These kids are brought in
voluntarily by their family members or through the foster system in some cases
as this is a private organization that seeks to straighten the path of kids and
teens coming from physical/verbal abused homes.
After we had
the thanksgiving meal, some of the residents came up to the front to give a
small shout out of gratitude to the audience and association. I was genuinely
touched by their words and how they expressed that the Florida Sheriffs Youth
Ranch was a place they could call home.
I was once a
foster kid myself, so I know exactly what it feels to be separated from your parents
and have to live with strangers for a whole year. I have a blog post detailing
my foster home experience and my point of view on the current foster home system.
I want more now than ever to be an advocate for this life changing organization,
that has had an impact in the lives of over 150,000 kids since the 1950s. I
hope to get the opportunity of mentoring these young minds and become a sponsor
myself.
Just between
me and my blog readers: I was looking forward to sharing my story at the banquet,
but I guess it might have taken the focus away from the kids if I shared my inspiring
story. So, I will continue to wait eagerly for the next opportunity to share my
story publicly at another event.
I can’t wait
to be at a place in my life where I am being booked for presentations!!! Yes, I
am looking forward to actually becoming an official motivational speaker. Well,
hope you enjoyed one more blog from no other than me aka Ana Gonzalez aka beautifulSoul
aka amilikey trade mark hashtag!!! Major Lol.
Xoxoxoxo,
Ana 😊
