Safe & Sound Hillsborough is honored to be recognized by the Tampa Bay Lightning as a social justice Community Hero! The generous donation of $50,000 will help to support our mentoring, academic credit recovery, and partnership programming in the Tampa Bay area.

"The Tampa Bay Lightning, continuing its long-standing tradition of honoring those making local community contributions through the Community Heroes Program, presented by Jabil, at its games, has elected to donate $200,000 to local charities for each of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff rounds in which the team competes. For the first round of the playoffs, the organization, led by owner Jeff Vinik and his wife Penny, is honoring six local non-profits, all of which are working to promote and enhance local social justice initiatives." Learn More

In case you missed it, Safe & Sound Hillsborough and the Children's Board of Hillsborough County partnered to host a virtual film screening and panel discussion of No Small Matter. The documentary explores the most underestimated and powerful force for change in America today: early childhood education.

Following the screening, Safe & Sound Hillsborough's Executive Director Freddy Barton, moderated a virtual discussion with a panel of experts and advocates on the overwhelming evidence for the importance of the first five years, and how failure to act on that evidence has resulted in an everyday crisis for American families.

The panel addressed impacts from Covid-19, wrap-around services for families, and offered practical solutions and resources that the entire community from all walks of life can support to bring awareness, positively impact change, and advocate for early childhood development.

The fantastic response from the film and virtual discussion has inspired Safe & Sound Hillsborough and the

Children's Board to continue the

discussion and amplify opportunities to

provide resources and programs that moves advocacy for early childhood education into action. Stay tuned!

Featured Panelist:

Stevonia Dixon, Florida Department of Education School Improvement Specialist for Southwest Region

Angela Chowning, Program Manager Hillsborough County Child Care Licensing

Marni Fuente, M.S., Ed.S, Program Director Hillsborough Community College – Quality Early Education System (QEES)

Major Anthony Collins, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

Chief Kenneth Albano, City of Temple Terrace Police Department

Attorney Edwin Narain, Board Chair Children's Board of Hillsborough County

Watch the discussion and share to help raise awareness about this critical issue. Watch Now

A heartfelt THANK YOU goes to the Bootleggers Brewing Company along with other local breweries in the Craft Beer Community for selecting Safe & Sound Hillsborough to be recipients of their Diversity Flight Series.

The series is an awareness and fundraising campaign in response to the outcry for help following George Floyd's wrongful death and strives to partner with community members and organizations that are working to be a part of the change that needs to happen against injustices within this country. Learn More

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