- September 6, 2024
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As part of the annual Ocoee Music Festival, the Chick-fil-A 5K run is a charitable event that aims to benefit a different local organization each year by donating the proceeds of the event.
At the Tuesday, May 21, Ocoee City Commission meeting, the Ocoee Chick-fil-A — located on West Colonial Drive in Ocoee — presented a beneficiary check of $1,416 from the proceeds of the 12th annual run to West Orange County nonprofit Eight Waves.
“I’m just thankful and grateful to be here this evening to present this check to the nonprofit that we picked this year as the benefactor for our 5K,” Chick-fil-A representative Beth Ott said. “This was our 12th 5K this year, and we could not do it without the city of Ocoee. We appreciate the city, the Parks and Rec Department — Mark Johnson, Toren Hogan and their team.”
Eight Waves is an organization that invests in the lives of children, youth and families who live in under-resourced communities by working to build the healthy support systems needed to thrive and by empowering community members to create a lasting change in their own lives and communities.
“We serve all of West Orange County, and we also serve Lake County,” said Kelly Carr, Eight Waves director of operations and programs. “We have a free after-school program, in-school mentorship programs, and we really just focus on serving children and families that live in under-resourced areas. So, families that might not be able to pay for their own tutoring after-school help, we provide that. … We have summer camp programs, and we help with food insecurity, hygiene and we have together eight programs.”
The Ocoee Chick-fil-A 5K run is set to return in April 2025 as part of the Ocoee Music Festival, and applications to be a beneficiary will be posted on the city of Ocoee’s website closer to the race date.
The Ocoee Youth Council was created by the city commission to provide constructive means for youth to have a voice in the decision-making processes of the city, to provide them opportunities for self-growth and ultimately to help develop Ocoee’s future leaders.
As part of the OYC program, the nine members of the 2023-24 class learned about a specific community event or department, and at the commission meeting they shared and summarized their experiences in a presentation to the commission and the public present.
Among the presentations, students highlighted and spoke about their experience serving and learning about community events, such as the Descendants’ Dinner — a memorial event that serves to remember the victims of the Ocoee Massacre and raise awareness of the importance of racial equality — the Evening with Santa event and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade.
The city of Ocoee also awarded scholarships to the program’s four graduating students — Kennedy Whitley, Niya Lewis, Bayleigh Castle and Robert Davidson — as part of the OYC Scholarship Program. Upon graduation, the city awards $250 per year of participation to the students in the program.
Upon the conclusion of the presentations and scholarship awards, Commissioner Scott Kennedy applauded the council members for their work as part of the program.
“Last year when we revamped this program, and we approved the scholarship, this is exactly, well, frankly, this is more than we envisioned,” Kennedy said. “I have never seen a more thorough presentation and curriculum, and you all are to be commended. You did a fantastic job. You seniors, we wish you the very best at university and thank you. We appreciate it.”
