Cocoa's Hometown Heroes

The past few months have been some challenging times, not only for our community but for our nation. Many members of our community lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of several businesses in our community due to the stay at home order. Several of the businesses and nonprofit associations in the Cocoa community stepped up to the challenge and made sure our citizens were taken care of. 

The Cocoa Police Department and Community First Charity partnered with local Cocoa business, Time Out Sports Bar Plus in their efforts to feed the community, “ Time Out for Humanity”. Members of Community First Charity such as David Lightholder were instrumental in gathering sponsors to help Time Out buy and prepare over 8,000 free meals for the community. Mayor Jake Williams, Jr., who also helped sponsor one of the meals, Councilwoman Brenda Warner (District 2) and Councilwoman Lorraine Koss (District 4) were all on hand to assist in Time Out's efforts to feed our community. Also a special thanks to the staff at Jacob's Engineering for raising $2,000 to assist with the meals on Mother's Day. Also, local Chef and Business Owner of Q's Crackin' Crab and Seafood stepped up in this effort to assist our community.

With the assistance of The REAL Church and Celebration Tabernacle, local business Pebbles Catering and Event Design also offered free meals to the community. Volunteers even helped bring the meals to those that weren’t able to come out to their location. Other businesses and organizations throughout our community also supported those in need. While employees at the City of Cocoa continued to work to provide core municipal services to our residents, protective equipment and supplies were hard to come by. West Cocoa Pharmacy made their own hand
sanitizer and made it available to the City of Cocoa when supplies elsewhere were non-existent. The Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse used old costumes to make face masks and donated them to the City of Cocoa and others throughout the community. 

Non-profit associations such as Cocoa Police Athletic League (PAL) and the Boys and Girls Club of Cocoa also continued to feed members of our community during the pandemic. The Cocoa PAL Youth Leaders volunteered over 60 hours to serve meals to students and the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

All of these acts of kindness as well as others, show how amazing the Cocoa community really is. We stand together, united to make sure that our community rises above adversity.

Ephraim Cdebaca has been helping clean up Cocoa Manor Park for nearly half of his young life. Motivated by his father's example and his participation with the Boy Scouts of America.

Starting as a Tiger Scout, Ephraim advanced through the ranks to Arrow of Light, the highest rank in Cub Scouts, and is part of the Merritt Island Cub Scout pack 701.

Cleaning up Cocoa Manor Park started as a neighborhood initiative that Karl Cdebaca, Ephraim's father, has been part of for over 10 years. When Ephraim was old enough to
help, he was out picking up sticks, cleaning up trash, and checking the trash cans on the premises. Though the City of Cocoa’s Public Works team does a great job keeping the park clean, when there's been a particularly busy weekend, the Cdebacas step in. The father and son team visit the park as often as needed, doing what they can to help the community. Karl explains that, “it doesn't take time or money to help the community.”

Ephraim takes pride in his work and has even recruited his friends and fellow pack members to help. Karl observed, “a sense of responsibility to the community and to others is part of who he is now.” In addition to cleaning up the park, Ephraim helps out around the neighborhood dragging trashcans up from the curb for neighbors. 

Ephraim was recognized at the November 13, 2019 Cocoa City Council meeting where he was
working on badges. We are proud to have this young hero in our community and look forward to seeing his future accomplishments.