One of the reasons Lakeland is such a great city is due to the tremendous support provided by local organizations to meet various community needs. As a result of that support, our Lakeland Police Athletic League was able unveil their new bus yesterday at ceremonies held at Simpson Park, Special guests included Mr. L. B. Scott, State of Florida Executive Director of PAL, and Mr. Lerric Boyd, State of Florida PAL President.
The Lakeland PAL Program serves nearly 1,000 youth in various sports programs, such as football, baseball, and cheerleading, mentoring, after-school tutoring, and computer training programs. The program is staffed by two police officers, over 100 volunteers, and an executive director.
The program was in desperate need of reliable transportation to get children from various schools to the after-school tutoring and computer programs at Simpson Park. That need was filled due to the generous support of many local organizations including, Lakeland Citizens Police Academy Alumini Association, North American Communities Foundation, Inc., Clara Warsaw Fund Advisory Council, Community Emergency Response Team, HSBC, Team Hammer Screen Printing, Superior Screen Printing, Publix Supermarket Charities, Ms. Barbara Hart, Neighborhood Association Coalition, Belks of Lakeland and Phantom Graphics. Additional financial supporters include the City of Lakeland and the Police Department.
The bus seats 28 passengers, which now provides the much needed transportation to get children to and from the various PAL activities in Lakeland and around the state. It is wrapped with colorful graphics that depict Lakeland PAL members participating in a wide range of program activities. A 12-passenger van is also on order and should arrive for service in the next couple of months.
Our sincere thanks to the many organizations and individuals who contributed to fill this critical need.
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