Page 8 - Martin Downs Bulletin - June '24

Page 8, Martin Downs

HonorinG

House Of Hope Takes Honors residents across Martin,

For Innovative Ways To Care St. Lucie and Okeechobee
counties, with a mission to
For The Environment empower people in need
to overcome hunger and
House of Hope, known throughout the community as an hardship.
organization that cares deeply for people in need, has also “Our environmental
been honored for the care it shows to the environment. efforts, like everything
Keep Martin Beautiful awarded House of Hope the 2024 we do, are directed at
Community Impact Award at its Environmental Stewardship empowering people in need
Awards ceremony in May. Jill Marasa of Ashley Capital, a and improving the overall
sponsor of the event and a nominee for its own environmental health and financial stability
restoration efforts, called House of Hope “a model for of the greater community,”
environmental stewardship through its comprehensive Ranieri said. “We’re proud
approach to reducing waste and conserving resources.” and grateful for the staff,
Each year House of Hope distributes about 1.3 million volunteers and donors who
pounds of food. Its efforts to use resources wisely ultimately take our mission to heart The House of Hope team works together to make environmental stewardship an integral
rescue 614,000 pounds of food annually from going into and create new and different part of all they do. These efforts resulted in House of Hope winning the 2024 Environmental
the landfill because it’s considered “not shelf-worthy” at ways to make a difference.” Stewardship Award for Community Impact from Keep Martin Beautiful.
local grocery stores. House of Hope Thrift Shops recycle
unusable clothing, linens, cardboard and household items
At its Growing Hope Farm, House of Hope uses Treasure Coast Outdoors
while assisting families with the basics of living.

environmentally-friendly hydroponic farming techniques and
employs closed-loop water systems. The fact that House of The Tilefish Are Back!
Hope has a farm for growing fresh produce for its clients is
in itself environmentally sound. Composting is an integral By Jim Weix
part of its operations, generating farm feed for local farmers A year ago, anglers
and ranchers. Rainwater is captured for irrigation, and the were wondering where
water used to clean produce in the new packing house is in the tilefish had gone. Deep
turn used to irrigate the farm’s grove of fruit trees. drops, with an electric reel
In addition, its Traveling Nutrition Education Garden and and weighed chicken rig,
Nutrition Gardens in key areas of the community help teach were coming up empty.
people about growing food locally and the importance of At the same time, a
using fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables in their meal planning. commercial fisherman was
“We made a commitment to ourselves that we would advertising fresh tilefish
incorporate good environmental stewardship in all aspects and showing a boat loaded
of our business,” House of Hope CEO Rob Ranieri said. with tilefish.
“We challenge ourselves to find opportunities to minimize Tilefish live in pods. If you catch one, it is not unusual
our impact on local landfills, to be imaginative in how we to catch several. It was thought that the pods were being it is a thrill to bring up your rig and try to see what is
recycle and repurpose, and to conserve valuable resources.” wiped out. coming up.
Every month House of Hope provides food, basic I guess we will never know. The good news is that Fishing for them is easy, but you will need an electric
needs, life skills, case management, financial assistance, they are back. reel. Using a 5- to 10-pound weight, you fish on the
workforce development, housing assistance, nutrition Tom Flynn, Russ Imbruglia and Nate Stevenson were bottom in anywhere from 600 feet or more. Look for a
education and enrichment to more than 21,000 area beyond surprised when they pulled up their limit of one mud bottom, since the fish partially burrow in and wait
fish per person on their second drop. The first drop didn’t for food to come by.
work out, as the line got caught in the propeller. Editor’s note: Jim Weix is an avid hunter, angler,
Tilefish have white flakey flesh and are as good to conservationist, as well as an outdoor writer. Jim is
eat as anything that you will catch. Many anglers don’t included in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s Hall of
spend the time or have the equipment to fish for them. Fame for helping restore thousands of acres of wetlands.
Their loss. Given the fact that overfishing is affecting Jim is a broker associate with The Keyes Company. He
so many species, it was good to see the return of these can be reached at (772) 341-2941 or by email: jimweix@
fish. Although not as exciting as seeing a dolphin jump, jimweix.com.

Are You Ready Hurricane?

For The Next Storm?

The House of Hope Thrift Team created a pop-up boutique
filled with used items for purchase by attendees at the
Environmental Stewardship Awards event. Lauren Povio, No Air Conditioning?
Donna Vestal, Pat Ferrara and Michele Trout curated the No Refrigeration?
items that became treasures instead of trash for the landfill.
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