Thrive's May Newsletter

As summer quickly approaches, the Thrive Clermont team spent May focused on celebrating past achievements, strengthening connections and community engagement to support upcoming programs.. 

May marked a major milestone for three current Teen Advisory Council members who graduated high school and will continue to their next goal of a college degree. These student leaders have contributed significantly to Thrive’s mission and programs, and we are so proud to recognize Keysie Perez, Catherine Mendez and Joy Forbes as they move on to the next chapter of their lives!  

At the South Lake Chamber Young Professionals May meeting, Executive Director Sheri Lewin and TAC member Keysie Perez had the opportunity to provide an overview of Thrive’s mission and impact. Lewin and Perez shared details on Thrive’s upcoming initiatives with professionals from many industries and invited attendees to support local youth as a volunteer instructor, mentor, or board member with Thrive.

Thrive’s Teen Advisory Council hosted a booth at the Groveland 2nd Friday Block Party at Cherry Lake Park to promote Thrive’s  Summer PopUps in June.  Thanks to a donation from Uncle Matts Organic, local families were able to enjoy free tastings of  Uncle Matt’s Organic Beverages at the Thrive  booth. Groveland Mayor Keith Keogh is a great supporter of Thrive and stopped to visit with our teens.

We know we have great Board Members and the community thinks so, too! On May 16th, two  of Thrive’s Board Members, Doris Jackson-Shazier and Sheri Lewin, were recognized along with five other local women for their service to their community.  Hosted at Hope International Church, the “2026 Kingdom Woman” recipients were recognized for their “Service, Leadership, and Compassion in their Community” at an inspiring  half day program dedicated to Nurturing and Celebrating Women who serve.

Thrive also gave annual updates to current Municipal partners.  Sheri Lewin and Thrive TAC members Meera Patel, Morgan Owens, and Valeria Gutierrez presented at the  City of Groveland and City of Clermont May Council meetings.  These updates provide a chance for local leaders to be briefed on outcomes of past programs and learn of upcoming Thrive programs that benefit local youth. In addition, Thrive’s 2026 Teen Advisory Council members supporting outreach get the opportunity to present  in a livestreamed public meeting to hone their skills.  

This year’s presentation to the Councils  featured a short student-produced video highlighting Thrive’s 10th anniversary and program highlights over the past decade. This video was a project of our Teen Advisory Council who wrote the script, recorded the narration and the video content.  The video was produced  under the mentorship of J Brian Miles who supported the team throughout.  Final video editing thanks to the sponsorship of SouthlakeTV.

Thrive’s Summer PopUps are celebrating 10 years in June and we are grateful for the continued support of our community. Over 50 organizations, businesses and individuals have come together to bring this dynamic summer program to Clermont and Groveland. We look forward to meeting lots of new teens on June 9 in Clermont or June 16 in Groveland. 

To learn more about volunteering with Thrive, sponsor-a-teen donations,  or to register for an upcoming event, visit  www.thriveclermont.org