Photo by Paul Miller Jonathan Franca is a typical high school senior in many ways. He’s active on social media and preparing to attend college (New York University) in the fall. But he’s also a young man on a mission. Franca is part of an intiative with UNICEF to end violence in schools globally. Working
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When Dustin Durrenberger entered the restaurant industry as a busboy, he had no idea that he would one day be a regional manager for a successful restaurant chain, helping to open six of its eight locations. While working as a bartender in Westmont, Illinois, he met Craig Bernstein, who became the owner and founder of
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The Margate-Coconut Creek Kiwanis Club has raised money and hosted events for children in the community for 45 years, and its president and soon-to-be lieutenant governor, John Francis, has memories for more than a quarter of them. Though Francis has plenty of memories of helping children during his 16 years with the Kiwanis Club, there
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While not strictly a Brazilian steak house, Firegrills in Coconut Creek does take inspiration for its cuisine from general manager and co-owner Miguel Adamowicz’s background. In his home state of Paraná in Brazil, Adamowicz used to spend Sundays attending Mass followed by potluck meals where churchgoers would share their home-cooked meats and sides. He wants
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A chance encounter about 30 years ago rippled to affect lives today. When Scott Mishner and physician Stuart Bederman met at a movie theater, they realized their families had something in common: their children “fell between the cracks,” as they were highly functioning and motivated but in need of structured help. From this friendship, they founded
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Coconut Creek residents might recognize Emerald Transportation’s trucks as the city’s contracted towing company. But what they might not know is that the company also is home to Towers with a Heart, a nonprofit organization that began in 2012 to educate Florida drivers about the so-called “move-over” law. Jim Jennings, a member of the organization’s
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Kristin Beck’s artistry had humble beginnings—think paper placemats in restaurants coupled with any drawing utensil she could find—but it has assumed many forms. “I want to say it’s been with me my whole life,” Beck says. In what her husband calls the “Tarantino style of talking,” (a meandering but connected way of storytelling) Beck shares
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A Creek resident uses her nursing experience to help others change their tattoo past Though it might not seem like an obvious leap to take 32 years of nursing experience and turn it into a specialization in laser tattoo removal, registered nurse Jamie Plastina finds that the two correlate. Her business, VanishThatTat.com offers laser tattoo
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A Creek resident launches a nonprofit to help the Keys after Irma What began as a Facebook post asking for unused hurricane supplies soon became a nonprofit organization with long-reaching effects. Coconut Creek resident and Winston Park Elementary School teacher Krystal Langley began gathering goods for her hometown of Marathon, the day after Hurricane Irma
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After four years of working in partnership with Perez Art Museum Miami, Starr Catering Group was ready to change things up at Verde, the restaurant it manages at the museum. “If you’re going to advertise yourself as [having] beautiful, sweeping views of the Biscayne Bay, you want the entire package,” says Emily Burster, general manager
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You might have seen videos of celebrities such as Tony Robbins or athletes such as LeBron James entering a metal, cylindrical chamber that looks like it came from a sci-fi movie. They’re not being cryogenically frozen; they’re undergoing a type of treatment called cryotherapy. Whole-body cryotherapy is a pain treatment that involves stripping down and
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Though Alan Feuerman admits he’s not the best at planning, the founder and president of South Florida Business Connections organizes networking events for South Florida professionals to meet and get to know one another. Nearly 10 years ago, working as a life insurance agent, Feuerman struggled to find a place in local chambers of commerce,
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