Junior Optimists make donation to Kirkham Kattery Rescue
BY VICI PAPAJOHN Gulf Breeze News vici@gulfbreezenews.com

Vici Papajohn/Gulf Breeze News Members of the GBMS Jr. Optimist Club presented Allan and Ella Kirkham (center and right) with a $200 donation to benefit at their last meeting.

The Junior Optimist Club at Gulf Breeze Middle School recently added to their long list of donations to worthy causes with a $300 contribution to the The Humane Society of the Emerald Coast, also nown as Kirkham Kattery Rescue in Milton.

Club President Jay Martin is proud of the large impact the club is having. "We have volunteered at several events and have made contributions to many worthy causes. It is really good to make a difference," he says.

Club member Kimberly Morse recently dropped off a mother cat and her kittens to the Kattery and she asked the group to consider supporting the no-kill facility.

"We were talking about donating money to someone," she remembers, "and I said 'lets give the money to help save the cats.' They are a local group, they help the community and they are a worthy cause."

Optimist liason, Pete Della Ratta, Sr. is proud of the group. "These are great kids. They work on their fundraisers and they want to make a difference. They want to stand for something. When they heard about the Memorial Scholarship being created for Sarah Brown, they jumped right on that and will be giving at least $200 to that fund."

Brown, an honors student at Gulf Breeze High School, died in an auto accident last month. Donations to the scholarship can be made via email at faklisa@mail.santarosa.k12.fl.us.