Darla Otey Receives Hero Award from Pinellas Park Rotary Club
Darla Otey, Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Pinellas Receives First Annual 2021 Hero Award from Pinellas Park Rotary Club
Pinellas Park, FL (May 21, 2021) – Among the heroes recognized on Thursday, May 20, 2021 by the Pinellas Park Rotary Club was Darla Otey, the Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Pinellas. The award honored Girls Inc.’s efforts in improving education and economic development. Other categories were working to protect communities from preventable disease, keeping women and children healthy, creating safe water and sanitation infrastructure, protecting our environment, assisting with disaster response, and making our communities and the world a more peaceful place. Barbara MacKellar hosted the inaugural Heroes Award Luncheon and introduced all the winners.
“The First Annual Hero Awards is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the individuals and organizations that are making a real difference in our communities.” said former club president Tami Scheele.
“This award recognizes the hard-working people who are going above and beyond, even at times risking their lives, to help people during the Covid-19 Pandemic. “.
Girls Inc of Pinellas is the leading non-profit that inspires and benefits 500 girls annually through services designed to teach all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. “Education for girls in science, technology, engineering and math is paramount at an early age,” said Darla Otey, executive director of Girls Inc. Pinellas.
Girls Inc.’s approach to STEAM enrichment inspires girls through hands-on, interactive workshops and exposes them to leaders in fields of study in which women are underrepresented. STEAM programming takes place daily across all age groups, with a focus on middle and high school students.
Each year, Girls Inc provides a STEAM-focused all-day summer camp for girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade. We also offer after school programming for girls in Pinellas county schools that includes pick up within a 5–7-mile radius of our site in Pinellas Park. This summer, Girls Inc of Pinellas has added a Ready, Set, Kindergarten component to prepare girls entering kindergarten for a successful academic year.