Office United Way Committee Honored for Fund-Raising Efforts

Public Defender Bennett H. Brummer thanked employees who voluntarily raised funds for the United Way of Greater Miami at a recent luncheon.

The employees conduct fund raising year-round as the United Way Committee. They recently held a bake sale and car wash as part of the effort. The committee coordinator is Corlette Floyd, director of support services.

"We are not just court-oriented in our office," Bennett said. "We are trying to improve the lives of our clients. We are going to be a positive force in the community with our United Way contributions and Anti-Violence Initiative."

Bennett has developed the Anti-Violence Initiative (AVI) as a means by which the office can help clients inside and outside of the courtroom.

The AVI entails many collaborations between the Public Defender’s Office and governmental and community organizations, service providers, and religious and academic institutions.

The United Way fund-raising effort is part of the AVI. "United Way is doing a very good job taking the dollars and putting them to work. It deserves our support," Bennett observes.

Instead of conducting a United Way campaign once a year in the fall, the office does fund-raising year-round through the United Way Committee.

At the luncheon Bennett gave each committee member a certificate of appreciation from United Way.

The members were Ana Abreu, Isabel Diaz, Ronnie Lemon, Deborah Gutierrez, LaEatrice McMurray, Patricia Richardson, Ingrid Outerbridge, Danielle Clark, Richard Castro, Maria Abreu-Miller, Sonia Slaughter and Corlette Floyd.