Scott Hackmyer News Today

The fifth annual Children First Gala and awards presentation on Thursday night at the Country Club of Ocala saw volunteers, elected officials and

The CarePortal will work as an alert system to notify Marion County churches about community needs like baby clothes, a bed or even foster parents.

Leading off this weeks listing of good news is a donation to Ocala Police Departments Ice Cream Truck program. Send items to calendar@starbanner.com

Aretha Leverette received a Community With a Heart grant. Two days later, a tree crashed through her roof. But shes persevering and grateful.

Community With a Heart helped the Thomas family in 2019. Now the family needs assistance again after a fire destroyed their home in the Shores.

This weeks list of good news is led by donations to Harbour View Elementary School students. Send items to calendar@starbanner.com

Belinda Harvey always helps others. When she needed help herself, Marion responded in a big way: a car and thousands of dollars for home repairs.

Hip replacement and cancer surgery in three months Harvey had hip replacement surgery in January after years of difficulty and reaching the point where she “couldn’t walk.” Then, after discovering malignant cancer, Harvey underwent a double mastectomy on March 24 and still faces possible chemotherapy treatments. She had to pay about $2,100 out of pocket on the surgery. The single grandmother has two of her teenage grandchildren living with her in her southwest Marion County home. Boi...

"Im so happy, so grateful," said Moreno, 39, a single mom. Having a car means Moreno can take her 11-year-old son, Jouse Morales, to school and get to work without having to get up at 5:30 a.m. and leaving at 6 to walk a mile to a bus stop. "The worst part was the weather," she joked. Moreno was living in Gainesville and driving about 20 miles north to Alachua to operate her nutrient supplement shop while tending to her son. Then, by April, the bottom had fallen out due to the COVID-19 pandem...

Carey Marcoux prepared for a tough Christmas season last year by practicing what to tell her two daughters, ages 4 and 8, about no presents under the tree. "We were going to tell them Christmas is more about family than presents but I didnt want them to be disappointed or feel they didnt deserve gifts," Carey Marcoux said. On Monday, she and her husband, Peter, recounted their familys experience over the last nine months at the west Marion County home where they have lived for the last 10 yea...