Resident donates grant funds to park
Playground equipment outdated, inadequate
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News Carmen Fred, (left), waits for Devin Rodriguez atop a set of Monkey bars at Tiger Point Park. Alessandra Kellerman plans to donate $1,000 to the park for newer equipment

If one good deed deserves another, then a local mom is hoping her good deed will spark several others to do the same.

Alessandra Kellermann recently won a "Point of Light Foundation" award and a $1,000 grant for her work supporting deployed troops and their families left behind through her organization called Homefront Hugs.

Someone nominated her for her efforts to provide a coordination point for the many people who want to do something for the troops. She currently helps thousands of volunteers collect goody bag items to send overseas, and helps provide school supplies and other essentials to families on the homefront.

That nomination eventually turned into an award, which will be printed in the July issue of Family Fun Magazine.

The award stipulated it was to go for a 501(c)3 charity, and Homefront Hugs doesn't have that designation yet, so Kellermann decided to donate it toward new playground equipment for Tiger Point Park.

"We'll put up the $1,000 and hopefully find someone who will match us," Kellermann said. She also wants to see a plaque or sculpture to dedicate the park to the veterans coming home, the wounded and fallen whose sacrifices allow children to play freely.

"It always means a lot when they hear from the kids ... that we're grateful for what they do."

Kellermann said the equipment located at the park was damaged during Hurricane Ivan and isn't developmentally appropriate for older children who are at the park for soccer and baseball programs, and they are sometimes shooed away from the area where toddlers are playing.

Kellermann, a single mother of Ed, 8, is also involved in the soccer program at Tiger Point Park. Ed, whose father is in the Air Force, is a rising third grader at Oriole Beach Elementary School and helps his mom coordinate Homefront Hugs. He is recognized as one of the organization's young volunteers. His participation is one of the reasons Kellermann won the award, because it was for children involved in volunteer organizations.

Kellermann, who has degenerative osteoarthritis, works on Homefront Hugs from her Tiger Lake home. She began her efforts after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and wanted to do something for the families affected. She began corresponding the the World Trade Center United Families group, and then began "adopting" troops deployed to Afghanistan, sending care packages over and providing support for the families at home.

After Kellermann gained the trust of the squadrons, word spread quickly and soldiers began soliciting her help to provide DVDs, candy, lip balm, sun lotion and cards and stickers to send home to their spouses and children.

"I used my personal funds," Kellermann said, but soon found like-minded individuals who also wanted to show their support for the troops but didn't have the connections.

Soon, Homefront Hugs became an umbrella group for the adoption aspect of the effort, called Hugs for Smiles USA; an effort to support a special operations group called Operation United Warriors; Operation Healing Angel to support the doctors, nurses and wounded being treated in military hospitals; and eventually, another group dedicated to providing support for families affected by hurricanes called Hurricane Hugs. One day, a truckload of lunchboxes packed with items for boys and girls arrived at Kellermann's home from Michigan, where school children had packed them for distribution through Hurricane Hugs.

"I made sure I knew who they were and they all got thank yous and certificates," Kellermann said.

After Hurricane Katrina, Kellermann and some volunteers brought supplies to a Red Cross shelter in the Biloxi area.

"They said, 'Oh we're so glad you let you in' because the kids were so happy to be opening the lunch boxes and back packs. It was so neat and they looked so exhausted and the moms looked so worn out and your heart just went out to them," Kellermann said.

There is a lady down in Palm Harbor doing a huge fundraiser for Hurricane Hugs, packing lunch boxes now to be ready in case a storm hits.

"We have wonderful volunteers across the country. What's so wonderful is how just a little spark can get the best out of people. We have disabled volunteers, kids in foster homes that help out, kids in developmental centers, our elderly are just fantastic. That's what keeps me going. You see the best in America," Kellermann said.