Local leaders
Ceremony honors people helping to better the community
are honored for their achievements and the example they provide for the community.
Eddie Cole strives to go to more graduations than funerals.
Before he became mayor of the historically black town of Eatonville, about six miles north of Orlando, he spent more than 20 years building relationships with youths and helping them power forward and strive for greatness through his nonprofit Every Kid Outreach.
He got results, too. Cole says some of those he mentored in at-risk communities have went on to become lawyers, doctors and professional football players, many going on to college instead of falling into the temptations of crime and drugs.
Cole was among more than a dozen local leaders in business, politics, law enforcement, media and faith who were given presidential lifetime achievement awards and honorary doctorate degrees on Sunday.
The ceremony, held at the The Life Center Church on East Kennedy Boulevard, celebrated those in the community pushing for positive changes, giving youths a role model and have spent their careers helping to better the Central Florida region.
“I’ve lived my whole life helping kids. If, at my funeral, they say Eddy Cole loved kids, that’d be good enough for me,” Cole said. “… it’s truly an honor to be recognized for my life’s work.”
Thirteen leaders were given the lifetime achievement awards, including Orlando Commissioner Regina Hill, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings and former News 13 anchor Jackie Brockington.
Six of those were also awarded an honorary doctorate degree through CICA International University & Seminary, a Christian school based out of Jamaica, N.Y.
“We have a number of unsung heroes who are being honored who are sometimes not in the limelight for their work,” said Dr. Florence Alexander, one of the organizers for the event. “... We say, as an African proverb, it takes a village to raise the child, and here, we have a village of
people with various backgrounds [being honored].”
Hill said she was humbled for the recognition, especially while looking at the others who were being given awards.
“Bettering this community is what I’m meant to do, and this award is really for those who I represent,” she said. “It’s encouraging because I’m the baby of this group, with just three years on council, so we aren’t done yet.”
Sheriff Demings and his wife, U.S. Congresswoman Val Demings, were both given lifetime achievement awards for their ability for break through barriers, serving as Orlando’s first black and first woman police chiefs.
“We have been very fortunate
“Bettering this community is what I’m meant to do, and this award is really for those who I represent.” Orlando Commissioner Regina Hill
to be able to serve and give back,” Sheriff Demings said. “We don’t take the support we get from the community for granted, and we’re very thankful. This award means a lot to us.”