Our Public Service
Howell & Thornhill, P.A., has been a part of Central Florida for almost 50 years. The firm is involved in helping the community, often with a focus on children.
Each year, Howell & Thornhill, P.A., purchases school supplies and distributes them directly to elementary schools with students that need help. The absence of simple items such as paper, notebooks, and pencils can hinder the learning of our children. Sadly, many teachers purchase these items out of their limited salary. The lawyers at Howell & Thornhill want to help teachers strive to educate our children. Our financial contribution is trivial compared to the dedication of local teachers.
In addition, our firm is involved with activities for children after school. Each year, our firm also sponsors little league teams throughout Polk County. The firm sponsors teams for T-ball, softball, soccer, and baseball. Howell & Thornhill has been involved in this effort for decades. Sports help children learn to try their best and to work together. Howell & Thornhill, P.A., is proud to partner with parents throughout Polk County to help their children grow and learn.
Howell & Thornhill, P.A. also supports the Winter Haven Optimist Club which is dedicated to meeting the needs of young people in our community. The Optimist Club provides a helping hand to youth such as college scholarships, school supplies and recognizing exceptional students. But the most important thing they do is provide hope and positive vision by teaching our youth to be optimistic about their future.
Special Project – Bicycle Helmet Giveaway
Even though Florida law requires children to wear bike helmets, Howell & Thornhill continues to see too many children riding bikes without them. At Howell & Thornhill, we want all of the children in our community to wear helmets because we know they prevent serious injuries and save lives.
Howell & Thornhill, in cooperation with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Winter Haven Police Department, gave away hundreds of free bicycle helmets to Winter Haven and Auburndale area children.
Howell & Thornhill presented the Helmet Giveaway as part of its community wide mission to promote child safety and prevent serious injuries. Thanks to the overwhelming response, Howell & Thornhill is planning a second helmet giveaway for the Fall.
Children aged 6-11 who were accompanied by an adult received a free helmet and fitting. All bike helmets are SNELL Certified and meet U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards. Each helmet came equipped with an owner’s manual and CPSC labels of certification.
Our Public Service
Tri Thornhill delivers groceries monthly to homebound seniors over the last decade with VISTE, Volunteers in Service to the Elderly, which can be reached at www.viste.org. Viste provides the groceries and Tri picks them up to take the supplies each month to the home of seniors that need help.
For more than twelve years, he also been a member of Lakeland Downtown Kiwanis club, which focuses on charities for children. In 2011, Mr. Thornhill helped organize the “Peanut Auction” which is a silent auction to fund all the charity works of Kiwanis as well as raise money for AMIKids, an organization that helps children at risk. In 2012, Mr. Thornhill helped organize the Kiwanis Cares Charity Auction that raised money for the Salvation Army. Every year since 2013, Tri has served as chairman of the Rudolph Round-up Committee, which purchases Christmas gifts for children for Heartland for Children, an organization that helps abused or neglected children in Central Florida. Please visit https://kiwanisoflakeland.com for more information.
Mr. Thornhill is also a member of Justice Teaching, an organization that teaches students about the justice system. Mr. Thornhill talks with all 7th grade students at Daniel Jenkins Middle School in Haines City, Florida. For more on Justice Teaching, please visit www.justiceteaching.org.
Sherri Scarborough has supported Life Choice Pregnancy Center in Winter Haven for years. Life Choice’s mission is to reach, serve and equip individuals facing unexpected pregnancies to make life affirming decisions through educational, tangible and spiritual one-on-one support. They provide free services such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, pregnancy counseling, post abortion emotional support, adoption referrals, community assistance referrals and parenting programs. It is important for people who may feel all alone to know that there are people out there that care about them and want to help, Life Choice is there for anyone who needs them.
Sherri Scarborough helps support Heart for Winter Haven which is a non-profit organization focusing mainly on housing the homeless. The Scholarship House program provides housing for homeless college students while the Housing Partnership of Winter Haven program provides families with help with eviction prevention and housing stability. Heart for Winter Haven also has a program called Jobs for Life which helps residents of our community find purposeful work and financial stability. Being homeless is very stressful to say the least and Heart for Winter Haven provides free mental health counseling to our community.
Spencer Pastorin is involved in charitable projects that help children in the area, including volunteering at Give Kids the World. He’s also participated in different service projects through Davenport Four Corners Kiwanis and First Friday Kids’ Support Group.