Christmas Tree Giveaway 7800 US HWY 17/92 Fern Park FL

This year the holiday season is projected to be hard on many families. Did you see the "60 Minutes" expose on America's New Poor?

The new poor are families who once gave to food banks that they are now depending on to supplement their budgets. Some are even eligible for food stamp benefits.

Other poor and working poor families live with levels of deprivation throughout the year that many of us cannot imagine.

In Fern Park FL, the merchants at the Mainstreet Square Shopping Center are pitching in to add some Christmas cheer. Here's how:

When you spend just $75 between November 25-December 2 at any of the stores in the shopping plaza, you'll receive a free Christmas tree!

Contact 407-260-5628 for info on free tree giveaway while supplies last.
Spend $75 with merchants at the Mainstreet Square Shopping Center
November 25-December 2
7800 U.S. Highway 17/92, Fern Park, FL

Inside the plaza is a Winn Dixie, Goodwill, nail shop, pizza, a Cuban cafe and several other retailers. It's stuff you need and would buy anyway. It's definitely worth it to drive a little out of your way for this deal.

So grab some coupons, make your list (check it twice) and make your dollars and time count.

It's a small, but meaningful way people are helping people.

After all, that's what it's all about. Remember the reason for the season.

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Hometown Celebs Serve Smiles and Hope for Free

Mike Thomas and Darryl Smith of the NFL Jaguars franchise bring smiles and give  'graphs to fans at Jax Winn Dixie.

There were no big I's and little you's at a neighborhood Winn Dixie store when NFL players Darryl Smith and Mike Thomas from the Jacksonville Jaguars posted up in the fresh produce section to chat it up and sign autographs.

Win/Win fan meets fave player, player meets a fan who wears his jersey

I remember the first famous person I met. It was in fourth grade and Muhammad Ali came to Daytona Beach FL to do a benefit for a local Boys & Girls Club. It's the only autograph I've ever asked for and I still have it more than three decades later.

 

Few athletes have leveraged their cache the way Ali did. He spoke out and spoke up on the social issues of the day. He was front and center in the Civil Rights Movement.

Simply put, he made a difference.

And that's exactly what Mike Thomas did at this signing. A father came up to him with a picture Mike had taken with his son at another event to have it signed. Turns out the son has a degenerative bone disease and has had to undergo multiple surgeries. Mike got on the phone with the kid -- delight for both son and dad. Then he took it a step further, asking one of the organizers to ping him when the kid goes into the hospital his next go round so he can visit.

Small thing? I don't think so.

There's always room for "the greatest" in each of us and we all have the opportunity to build that one encounter at a time.

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Cash, Gas or Apples (Nobody Rides Free)

Okay I fess up. There was a bumper sticker from the 70s that went something like that.

Only the "apples" in my title was replaced with "ass." I remember reading that sticker that seemed to  be plastered on nearly every semi truck my mom and I passed traveling Interstate 95 from Daytona Beach, FL to a tiny Alabama town called Brewton to visit my grandparents.

Seems that Jacksonville, Florida-based Winn Dixie grocery stores has revived the notion with their new money-saving program called
fuelperks!® 

This is how it works.

You sign up for the store's reward card on line or in the store. Each purchase you make goes toward reducing the price per gallon of gas at participating gas stations.

You have to eat. And in the Southeast where most Winn Dixie stores are located, you have to drive. What a stroke of brilliance, Winn Dixie, for helping us save on both.

Sign up for fuelperks!® today and hit the road. While you're at it, pack a lunch... and an apple or two.