On Dec. 2, St. Petersburg Lodge presented a check for $500 to Suncoast Safe Kids. The Suncoast Safe Kids Coalition was established in 1991 and is led by Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., and serves five counties in the Tampa Bay area. It is an affiliate of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global organization dedicated to preventing injuries in children, the No. 1 killer of kids in the United States. The coalition unites health and safety experts, first responders, educators, local agencies, civic groups, businesses, and volunteers from each community served. Each county elects officers who meet monthly with the Safe Kids membership to review childhood injury data and to develop strategies to combat specific childhood injuries.
Pictured are Charlene Cobb, chairperson of Pinellas Coalition; Martin Sharp, Lecturing Knight; and Petra Vybiralova Stanton, Johns Hopkins/All Children's supervisor to Pinellas Coalition.