Each month, Stars features exceptional students, student-athletes, educators and all-around boons to the Greater Orlando area.

Ailynn Chen           

Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Núñez recently visited Lake Highland Preparatory School (LHP) to recognize Chen, a fifth-grade student, as the 2023 Florida Space Art Contest grand-prize winner. Open to all Florida K-5 students, over 1,500 kids submitted original, two-dimensional artwork based on this year’s theme, Time Travel 2123: Florida’s Future as the Space Capital. Submissions were broken down into two categories: kindergarten through second grade and third through fifth grade. Six art pieces from each group were selected as finalists. Finalists won tickets to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center and will have the opportunity to work alongside internationally renowned and featured artist Romero Britto to paint a custom piece imagined and sketched by Britto. As the grand-prize winner, Chen’s original artwork will be flown into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon.

Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin & Friends of Fisher House Orlando 

This past Veterans Day, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin donated $10,000 to Friends of Fisher House Orlando, its charitable beneficiary for the 14th annual Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic. The donation comprised proceeds from the event. The Fisher House, located at the Orlando VA Medical Center, provides free accommodations and resources for military and veteran families in several Central Florida counties while a loved one receives medical treatment. It is one of over 95 comfort homes across the United States built by the Fisher House Foundation in support of military veterans and active-duty service members and their families.

Yahzee Maure                         

Maure, a 2023 graduate of Econ River High School, joined the Marine Corps five months ago. Currently a student at Marine Aviation Training Support Squadron 1 (MATSS-1), located at Naval Air Station in Meridian, Mississippi, Maure is learning the skills needed to be an aviation support equipment manager.

Winn-Dixie, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and  Advanced Senior Center

This past November, Winn-Dixie partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and Advanced Senior Center to distribute 600 turkeys to local families experiencing food insecurity during the holiday season. In addition to the frozen turkeys, the grocer also donated essential Thanksgiving food items as a part of its continued commitment to fight food insecurity and help families access the nutritious food they need. Volunteers distributed the donations on Nov. 6 at an event in Kissimmee, followed by a second distribution on Nov. 16 in Orlando. Second Harvest is currently distributing enough food for 300,000 meals a day, the same level reached at the height of the pandemic in April 2020.

Embrace Families                                                     

This past November, judges in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties presided over National Adoption Day ceremonies, officially marking a new start for 36 children who had been in foster care. Embrace Families is the lead nonprofit agency overseeing foster care and child welfare services in the tri-county area. Since its inception in 2004, the organization and its case management partners have helped more than 3,329 children find their forever families. Although adoptions occur throughout the year, National Adoption Day was initiated in 2000 to raise awareness about the thousands of kids across the country in need of a safe and nurturing home environment. On any given day, approximately 2,300 children are involved with the child welfare system across Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

DaVita                   

The national 2023 DaVita Health Tour, a mobile testing center that provides free health screenings and kidney care education to thousands of people across the country, recently made a stop to the Orlando area. Over 100 free health screenings were provided. Each screening was followed by a personal and confidential patient result review with qualified nurse practitioners.

Know someone who deserves Star Treatment? Submit your nominees to Karen @OrlandoFamilyMagazine.com