Saint Lucie County Award Recipients 2024
January
PAL Honored with Dyer Difference Award
Lt Andrew Soesbe Sheriff Keith Pearson, Holmes and PAL Executive Director Jarret Romanello, Tatiana and Will Dyer.
Every year, 500 children in St. Lucie County have an opportunity to forge a strong, supportive, mentoring relationship with members of the law enforcement community through Police Athletic League (PAL) programs. The recreational activities offered at the PAL Center are free to children, and the mentoring opportunities created there are priceless.
Since its inception in 1995, the purpose behind PAL in St. Lucie County has been to “fill playgrounds, not prisons,” and the organization has provided a focus for youth on academics, athletics, social interaction, life skills, leadership skills, the arts, and community service. PAL has been offering programs to all youth in St. Lucie County, with particular focus on at-risk youth since 1995. Over the years, PAL has grown to include programs such as basketball, football, dance, drama, cheerleading, track & field, karate and boxing.
The organization’s volunteers and their dedication and commitment to the youth of the community have earned the organization the January Dyer Difference Award in St. Lucie County.
February
Dyer Difference Award Assists Literacy
In St. Lucie County, February’s Dyer Difference Award is all about literacy. Learn to Read St. Lucie County has been helping individuals ages 16 and over who want to change and improve their lives by learning to read for forty years.
The inspiration for this life-changing organization began in 1981 when founder, Dorothy Brennan, read an article in the local paper about a child who nearly died because of its mother’s inability to read the directions on a bottle of medicine.
Since becoming an official nonprofit organization in 1983, volunteer tutors have been trained to work with individuals to help them learn to read, speak English, and acquire the technological skills that are needed to navigate daily life.
The February Dyer Difference Award supports Learn to Read St. Lucie County and its efforts to assist more than 300 individuals in St. Lucie County every year, as well as its annual Feast for Literacy event, “Read Between the Wines,” scheduled for March 22nd at River Walk Center in Fort Pierce.
March
Dyer Difference Award Celebrates Heroes
Dyer Sales Associate Josel Infante, Southeast Florida Honor Flight Operations Manager Eric Stein, General Manager Jonathan Holmes, Honor Flight volunteer Dr. Shamsher Singh, WWII Veterans, John Dulo and Ray Glansberg, Southeast Florida Honor Flight Director Christine Brady, Dyer Finance Manager Reese Horstman.
On Saturday, April 6th, Southeast Florida Honor Flight will celebrate an amazing milestone – its 50th Honor Flight mission and the 50th time the volunteer organization has flown WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans to Washington, DC, for a day filled with honor, respect, and celebration of the service of the veterans.
For most of the 3,816 veterans who have gone on the Southeast Florida Honor Flight trip, it’s the first time experiencing the monuments which were created to honor them. For many, the trip marks one of the final chapters of their lives and one of their proudest moments.
Honor Flight matches volunteer guardians, who train to care for their veteran and pay for the privilege of accompanying a veteran. An all-volunteer organization, Honor Flight volunteers also raise fund for each flight, which costs around $140,000. Members of the Dyer staff and family, many former veterans, have participated as Honor Flight guardians and are delighted to help Southeast Florida Honor Flight celebrate its 50th mission with the March Dyer Difference Award.
April
Community benefit from Dyer Difference Award
Dyer Sales Associates Cleve Borden, Josel Ulloa, Mustard Seed Executive Director Greg Smith, Dyer General Manager Jonathan Holmes, Sales Manager Jon Herman, and Finance Manager Ja’von White.
In St. Lucie County, the Dyer Difference Award recognizes the work of Mustard Seed Ministries, a nonprofit organization which serves nearly 60,000 individuals struggling to meet basic life necessities including food, shelter, and clothing. Since 1986, Mustard Seed has assisted St. Lucie County individuals who live at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level with financial, medical, emotional, and spiritual needs, which include rent and mortgage assistance, emergency food and two local food pantries serving hot meals, utilities assistance, and financial education classes, dental and prescription assistance, clothing, furniture, diapers, and basic household furnishings.
The staff family at Dyer has long supported the work of Mustard Seed and is happy to recognize the tireless work of the staff and volunteers who keep Mustard Seed helping the community.
May
Dyer Difference Award Celebrates Cobras
It might seem unusual to cheer on a cobra, but in St. Lucie County, it’s the thing to do. The Fort Pierce Central High Cobras are a much-beloved football team that help to bring together the community through sports.
However, football is a sport with a whole lot of equipment that is necessary, and with tight budgets, it’s hard to outfit an entire football team properly.
In order to help ensure that there will be funds to provide equipment for all of the Fort Pierce Cobras, the May Dyer Difference Award will help fund equipment to give up to 130 students a chance to play and an entire community to enjoy.
June
Dyer Difference Award Celebrates Spartans
Dyer managers Jon Herman and Jonathan Holmes present the Dyer Difference Award to Lindsay Campion and members of the Spartans’ team.
Speaking of cheering, the staff at Dyer Chevrolet in St. Lucie County chose to help cheer on the Treasure Coast Spartans, a youth football and cheer program which serves St. Lucie, Indian River, and Martin Counties and helps provide fun, fitness, and a chance to learn competition and sportsmanship for the 300 youth who are involved in the program.
The Dyer Difference Award helped sponsor this year’s Spartans Family Fun Day at Charles Ray Park, and the result was a day filled with fun, friendship, and loads of smiles.