New Members Of Our Team

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Welcome to the Humanity Project, Sasha Medvinsky and Victoria!

Meet our newest Leadership Council parent-child team.

Sasha was born and raised in Ukraine, leaving for Florida in 1992. She’s a registered nurse who manages Outpatient Services in the Pediatric Ambulatory Department of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Her daughter, Victoria, is an honor roll student and a recognized leader in her school, often fundraising for causes that help children in need.

Of course, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is a longtime sponsor of the Humanity Project. So we think Sasha’s involvement with the Humanity Project seems especially appropriate.

Our Leadership Council was formed several years ago to serve as an in-house consulting and creative group of parents who partner with their child, collectively offering guidance to make sure our programs become even more kid-friendly and parent-friendly too. Since then we’ve added key new members to that team. We know Sasha and Victoria will bring their experience and talents to our work now — and we’re grateful.

We think of the Humanity Project as a family: not only our Board of Directors and Leadership Council but also our great volunteers and the many students and teachers and administrators who work with us closely. Together, we help kids to help kids. Together, we really do make a difference.

The Children's Hospital & Us

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There is a very special children's hospital here in South Florida, special to the community and also special to us at the Humanity Project. It is a place where sick children go to get well. It's a place with many many dedicated physicians, nurses and healthgivers of all kinds -- and many hardworking folks behind the scenes. We are fortunate that Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital also is a good and loyal friend of the Humanity Project. In fact, JDCH just renewed their funding for our programs as they have consistently for most of our existence. Thank you, JDCH, which is part of Memorial Healthcare System!

When we think of the people who tackle the heartwrenching task of working with kids who are ill, our wonderful pal Linda Herbert comes to mind first and foremost. Oh, but she's much better known as Lotsy Dotsy the clown. 

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That's her with two of us in the pic above. She is a remarkable human being who brings a deep compassion and affection for these kids to her job -- sitting on their bedside, playing, teasing, laughing, making sick boys and girls smile. Lotsy Dotsy is there for the kids and their families through their ordeals ... and manages to keep a smile on her face too. We admire her and we're proud to call Linda Herbert a colleague and a friend. But there are so many other people who work hard to make JDCH the great hospital it is, including folks like Jennifer Belyeu, Tim Curtin, Theresa Garcia, Lisa Bravo, Sharon Quinn, Milin Espino, Scott Singer ... far too many to name them all. Together they manage a heavy load of daily duties and major events too, such as the annual Tour de Broward. You can learn more about Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at their website: www.jdch.com ... At the Humanity Project, our trademarked slogan is, "Helping kids to help kids." Children are our business. Unfortunately, sometimes children get sick. We are honored to work alongside a place such as Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, where kids in South Florida can go to get healthy again. 

Our Fund (and Our New Friends)

POSTED BY: BOB KNOTTS

This week we very proudly announce a major new sponsor for the Humanity Project. We welcome Our Fund to the distinguished list of community partners that you’ll find on our Sponsor page. Our Fund is a foundation that connects the LGBT community in South Florida. They support organizations that improve the lives for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

Our Fund is a foundation that connects the LGBT community in South Florida. They support organizations that improve the lives of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender: Visit the Our Fund website. That includes a $5,000 grant to the Humanity Project because we have a nationally acclaimed anti-bullying program, a website created by Gay-Straight Alliance students for socially isolated teens … and now the Humanity Club, which works with middle school student leaders to create an environment of respect for every kid on campus, making their school into a place that welcomes diversity.

Our Fund check presentation to new winners - May 2016

This type of work is nothing different for the Humanity Project, of course. What’s different is the partnership with Our Fund under their dynamic new leader, David Jobin. David, along with Our Fund’s Grants Committee and Board of Directors, recognizes that the LGBT community benefits enormously from allies such as the Humanity Project, which deliver programs and foster goals that make the world much more welcoming for all. Take our Anti-bullying Through The Arts program, for instance. LGBT students are disproportionately targets of bullying, suffering in large numbers. Eight years of our pre-post testing shows that the Humanity Project program effectively teaches bystander students to help stop school bullying – thereby also reducing the bullying of LGBT students.

The Humanity Project is very proud that we have stood alongside the LGBT community throughout our nearly 11-year history, with or without funding. If you look back at our blogs or social media over that period, you’ll find many posts about the importance of respect for people of all sexual preferences and identities. Even our PeacePage’s introductory animated video mentions this, something we created several years ago: Visit the PeacePage. We were working with Gay-Straight Alliance students for more than a year before winning a large State Farm grant to complete our website for teens, “The Humanity Project 4 Kids”: Visit The Humanity Project 4 Kids.  To the Humanity Project, LGBT equality is the great human rights issue of this era in American history. We are honored to be part of it.

And just as much, we’re honored by Our Fund’s belief in our role within that fight. The LGBT community foundation now joins our other sponsors, including major sponsors, State Farm and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital … along with Children’s Services Council of Broward County; Google; Barry University; Monarch High School; Dr. David Sharaf and Skin and Cancer Associates and the Center for Cosmetic Enhancement; Blue Gallery and First Impression Printing. We thank them all.

And we know each of these amazing, community-minded organizations will welcome Our Fund to the Humanity Project family, as we do today.