From the Fort Myers Beach Periodical the Sandpiper January 2012,
Parrot Key Caribbean Grill and Big Game Waterfront Grill Give a Helping Hand to Operation Open Arms
Parrot Key Caribbean Grill and Big Game Waterfront Grill of Fort Myers Beach gave a helping hand to Operation Open Arms this week by donating $1,000 in gift cards to be used in assisting service personnel. Operation Open Arms had been storing their donated items at the Pine Island Chamber until a recent fire that completely destroyed the Chamber office.
“When we learned of the fire last week we called Captain John Bunch, the head of Operation Open Arms and offered our donation”, said Justin Hall, Operations Manager for the two restaurants. “We are proud to support Operation Open Arms and give back in to our U.S. Troops who are visiting our area. I would encourage all of the restaurants in the area to participate with us in this worthwhile endeavor!”
“Parrot Key is a great place to come and enjoy the waterfront view, have a fantastic meal and leave the real world behind for a short time! We feel honored to share a little piece of our paradise with these service personnel and their families”, says Brian DeMartinis, General Manager at Parrot Key.
Operation Open Arms, a nationally acclaimed military outreach program founded in 2005, is a network of business owners and individuals in Florida who work to provide eligible service personnel and their families with a no cost combat leave vacation. Local businesses have worked with Operation Open arms to help over 2,000 service personnel here locally and have donated the goods and services for 90 weddings. “The thing that makes Operation Open Arm such a success is a core group of 100 businesses that have joined together to support this cause and Salty Sam’s is one of our largest contributors”, said Joseph Fossella, Advisory Board Member.
After a long year overseas, Frank Grimm finally returns home to Fort Myers. Total strangers applauding his arrival but his biggest fan is his wife Erin who met him at Fort Riley in Kansas on the last leg of their trip.
Looking back at my life as a computer educator in Michigan and my life here in Maryland, service to others and the natural environment is a recurring theme. As a 16 year old, I found myself Saturdays, at a Ladies’ Retirement Home, rounding up surprised women, to take them shopping. More recently, for the past 7 years, I’ve traveled countrywide, building with Habitat for Humanity. Besides the fun of hammering away at a framing nail, it is rewarding to work side by side with an excited, new homeowner who, often enough, is moving from substandard housing.
Authentic Greek Food
