We support the Census of 2020 and you should too! Below are some important reasons why...
• Census data guides local decision-makers and important community planning.
• Census data is used to determine locations for businesses, community centers, schools, churches, hospitals, new housing developments and a host of other community facilities to improve areas.
• Census data results determine how many seats your state gets in Congress to echo your voice on the Hill, as well as the boundaries for local and state legislative and congressional district.
• The Bureau of the Census protects their answers. It’s against the law to publicly release the responses in any way that could identify anyone. By law the Bureau cannot share any information with anyone including immigration and customs enforcement. All information is turned into statistics.
At their annual Downtown Update, held on September 26th at the Kissimmee Civic Center, the Downtown Kissimmee Area Council awarded the first quarterly recipient of their Back the Blue Awards honoring KPD’s finest.
Corporal Charles Popp is assigned to the Major Crimes Unit of the Police Department. He is charged with investigating and supervising detectives who investigate crimes against children, home invasions, sex crimes, robberies, and homicides. Corporal Popp can be described as a problem solver. Corporal Popp took it upon himself to develop a new system of tracking sexual offenders and notifying the public of their whereabouts. This system allows for our Department to track the sexual offenders living in the City and readily ensure they are following their restrictions, and if they are found not to comply, are charged appropriately. Further, Corporal Popp ensures that the detectives speak to all the registered sexual offenders at back to school time as well as at Halloween when children are likely to be around. Taking on the task of protecting our most vulnerable residents is but one example of Corporal Popp’s dedication to the Department and to the City. Corporal Popp is a person that anyone in the Kissimmee Police Department can go to for guidance, advice, and coaching while investigating a difficult crime.
The Back the Blue initiative was instigated by 2019 Kissimmee Chamber Chairman Rob Rosen to honor the finest law enforcement individuals at both KPD and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department.
Remember field day? That one day near the end of the school year when your sole focus was becoming champion at tug-of-war? Last Friday, the Young Professionals of Osceola County traveled back in time to field day – though this time in service of a greater goal – with their Barnyard Olympics & Non-Profit Fair. Now in its fourth year, the Barnyard Olympics remains Osceola County’s only opportunity to learn about the great work being done by non-profits in our area while also trying not to make a fool of yourself at Dizzy Bat.
Teams of four progressed around the arena at the KVLS Pavilion to hear from local non-profits and learn how they might get involved with those organizations. Each non-profit then facilitated a game and allowed the teams to get competitive for a chance to win raffle prizes donated by the non-profit participants and sponsors. The evening included dinner from Big John’s Rockin’ BBQ and a bar manned by the Osceola Cattlemen’s Association and Silver Spurs Club. The final match of the night was an epic tug-of-war battle involving the whole crowd.
This year’s participating non-profits were CAAIRE, Community Vision, The Education Foundation, The Florida Native Plant Society – Pine Lily Chapter, Guardian Ad Litem, Help Now, I Rise, The Opportunity Center, Osceola Arts, Osceola Healthy Families, New Beginnings, Relay for Life, The Sunshine Foundation Dream Village, and United Way.
Sponsorship from Edward Jones – Joel Ferguson, Kissimmee Utility Authority, Wild Florida, Street Outdoor, Headquarters Coworking, the Osceola Cattlemen’s Association, and the Silver Spurs Club made the event possible.
If you missed out, start getting your team together for next year’s event; you have afull year to practice your cornhole skills. Or, check out the participating non-profits, and other non-profits in our area, and learn how you can get involved as a volunteer or serve on their boards of directors. See you next year!
For more fun shots of the event, check out RTW Photography’s gallery.
