{"id":383531,"date":"2026-08-28T13:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383531\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T13:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:10:14","slug":"scott-maxwell-10-people-who-make-orlando-a-better-place-to-live-2026-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383531\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Maxwell: 10 People Who Make Orlando a Better Place to Live (2026) \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enough already with the bad news. It\u2019s time to celebrate the good.<\/p>\n

Each year, I ask readers for the names of people who go above and beyond to make Central Florida a better place to live. And every year, you guys respond in spades, this year with about 100 different nominations.<\/p>\n

The people featured in the 11th annual installment of this uplifting exercise help the less fortunate, tend to the environment, tempt our taste buds, help budding entrepreneurs thrive, minister to the downtrodden and more.<\/p>\n

\"ART:Deanna Keller has logged thousands of hours as a volunteer for many local nonprofits. (Steve Simoneau)
\nDeanna Keller, volunteer extraordinaire<\/p>\n

You might be impressed to learn that Deanna Keller has spent more than 3,000 hours volunteering at the Orlando Shakes. That\u2019s the equivalent of a year-and-a-half of full-time work, just to help a local theater. But that\u2019s just the beginning. Keller has also volunteered several thousand more hours at nonprofits like Give Kids the World, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Orlando Science Center and elsewhere. And she does much of it with the assistance of a wheelchair. Keller was looking for a way to help others after she had a pancreas transplant in 2011 and found renewed purpose in volunteering. She says she gets joy from giving, and her supporters say it shows, as she does it all with a smile, grace and even hugs.<\/p>\n

\"AndreaAndrea Massey-Farrell is the driving force behind the charitable endeavors of Massey Services.
\nAndrea Massey-Farrell, Harvey & Carol Massey Foundation<\/p>\n

Few people are as involved in as many different charitable endeavors as Andrea Massey-Farrell. The foundation she runs for her family\u2019s pest-and-lawn services company has made major donations\u00a0 \u2014 at the seven-figure level \u2014 for the likes of Nemours Children Hospital and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. But Massey-Farrell does more than just hand out checks. She gets personally involved as a board member, mentor and even front-line volunteer. She does so with familial support from her brother, Massey Services CEO Tony; and mother, Carol, who started the foundation with her late husband, Harvey. But Andrea\u2019s roll-up-her-sleeves approach to altruism epitomizes what one of her admirers described as \u201cphilanthropy beyond check-writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CarlosCarlos Benitiz, St. Peter Claver Prison Ministry (Courtesy Carlos Benitiz)
\nCarlos Benitiz, St. Peter Claver Prison Ministry<\/p>\n

Most everyone hopes people who go to prison will find a way to turn their lives around. The reality, though, is that we live in a society that focuses on incarceration more than rehabilitation. That\u2019s why Benitiz feels called to do more. As manager of the Catholic church\u2019s local St. Peter Claver Prison Ministry<\/a>, Benitiz goes where others won\u2019t, into prisons to reach those seeking a better path in life. And he does so with his ministry\u2019s basic tenets \u2014 renewal, forgiveness and support \u2014 top of mind. This work isn\u2019t for the meek. But one of Benitiz\u2019s admirers said the retired UPS worker and Army National Guardsman \u201cloves people and sees the good in everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PastChris King (right) speaks at an Elevation Scholars Awards celebration in 2019. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for the Orlando Sentinel)
\nChris King, Elevation Scholars<\/p>\n

Many groups provide college scholarships. But Chris King founded Elevation Scholars<\/a> to fill a niche hardly anyone else does \u2014 to help talented students before they even apply for school and also after they get there. Many of these students have the grades to qualify them for a scholarship from a university. But they might not know how to navigate the application process. Or afford to take a trip to a campus tour. Or maybe, after they leave home, they don\u2019t know how to live on their own or have enough money to cover the kind of incidentals that help allow them to focus on their studies. King and his group have provided that support (valued at around $25,000 per student) plus mentors and life-success training for 189 students since 2014. And they\u2019re still going.<\/p>\n

\"DeborahDeborah Green, president of Orange Audubon Society, bird watches near the entrance to the Lake Apopka Wildlife in Apopka. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)
\nDeborah Green, Orange Audubon<\/p>\n

Central Florida is full of people who come and go. But Green has been a mainstay in this community\u2019s environmental scene, volunteer-leading Orange Audubon<\/a> once as president, taking a break, and now doing so again. All told, she has been involved for more than two decades. One of her nominators said the former professor of environmental science has \u201ca remarkable ability to bring people together around a shared vision\u201d that has led to tangible results, including learning stations and experiences along the Apopka Wildlife Drive, as well as the North Shore Birding Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"JamesJames Beard Award semifinalists Sue and Jason Chin of the Good Salt Restaurant Group. (Rich Pope, Orlando Sentinel)
\nSue and Jason Chin, Good Salt Restaurant Group<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question the Chins have enhanced Central Florida\u2019s culinary scene. The husband-wife duo and their restaurant group<\/a> that includes the likes of downtown Orlando\u2019s Reyes Mezcaleria<\/a> and Seito Sushi<\/a> in Baldwin Park have been twice honored by the venerable James Beard Foundation. But they do more than prepare top-tier meals. They also help prepare their chefs for success, making them partners in the establishments they helped elevate. They even help other restaurants in town, as they did with supplies during the pandemic shortage, and focus considerable efforts on charitable endeavors to boot.<\/p>\n

\"Mr.Kerry S. Wiggins Sr., left, and Britt Henderson founded the Unity Youth Association for kids in Sanford. (Adrienne H. Wiggins)
\nBritt Henderson and Kerry S. Wiggins, Unity Youth Association<\/p>\n

These two guys have a story that sounds like it came out of a Hallmark movie. They grew up in a small town (Sanford), left to play big-time college sports and yet felt called back home to serve that same community. What started 20 years ago as a football camp has blossomed into much more. The Unity Youth Association<\/a> now offers mentoring, tutoring, sports programs, road races, parent-child dances and more \u2014 all with a goal of letting kids know that their community wants them to succeed. As one nominator said: \u201cTheir message \u2014 you matter, your community believes in you, and more is possible for your life \u2014 runs through everything UYA does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KathyKathy Grimes founded the Steinway Society with her husband, Gary, to provide the gift of music – and pianos – to youth around Central Florida. (Gary Grimes)
\nKathy Grimes, Steinway Society of Central Florida<\/p>\n

The Steinway Society<\/a> is a group focused on spreading the gift of music by providing piano lessons \u2014 and pianos themselves \u2014 to kids who might not otherwise be able to afford either. Since Grimes founded the charity 20 years ago with her husband, Gary, the group has donated more than 250 pianos and sponsored more than 10,000 lessons with a total value of more than $3 million. I think you could make a solid argument that both Kathy and her husband should share this honor. But since Gary was one of those who nominated his wife, saying she deserved the accolades, I decided to defer to him on this matter.<\/p>\n

\"ArleneArlene Blake founded Women on the Rise International to help women get stronger footing on Central Florida’s business scene. (Kimberly Taylor, Kimazing Photography)
\nArlene Blake, Women on the Rise International<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, Blake saw a need to help career-minded women who work hard and dream big but are still struggling to make it, perhaps because they lack connections or the benefits of a pricey business school degree. So she founded Women on the Rise<\/a>. The nonprofit offers aspiring women mentorships and training on everything from financial literacy to entrepreneurship \u2014 often with child care provided. By partnering with law firms, other nonprofits and both of Central Florida\u2019s major health care systems, Blake and her group have helped more than 5,000 women try to break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck and control their own financial destiny.<\/p>\n

\"BillBill and Jody Orosz have donated millions of dollars to local charities and recently helped open a new school aimed at helped under-served teens pursue corporate careers. (Stephen Orosz)
\nBill and Jody Orosz, philanthropists<\/p>\n

Through their family foundation, the Oroszes have contributed to many local endeavors. But last year, they fulfilled one of their long-time goals by helping open an entire high school dedicated to helping under-served teens prepare for success in the business world. Their $7 million real estate gift<\/a> helped pave the way for the Cristo Rey Orlando High School<\/a>, which mixes traditional education with real-world business training and partnerships with companies that commit to hiring students. The opening of the school off Orange Blossom Trail, showed that, as one of the Oroszes\u2019 fans said: \u201cThey don\u2019t just support organizations, they help build them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Enough already with the bad news. It\u2019s time to celebrate the good. Each year, I ask readers for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[483,114,266,482,12151,139,141,140,24162,109,76410],"class_list":["post-383531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-commentary","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-opinion","tag-opinion-columnists","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-scott-maxwell","tag-social","tag-social-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}