Students at Tampa's Grover Cleveland Elementary School recently received a holiday treat from the PTA at Mary E. Bryant Elementary School.

This is the third year in a row the Bryant PTA has adopted students and their families from Cleveland, 726 E. Hamilton Ave., at Christmas time. Through a school wide toy drive, Bryant students and their families provided Christmas presents for 13 families with students enrolled at Cleveland.

In addition to filling the families' wish lists, the school, 13910 Nine Eagles Drive, collected used books and clothes to donate to the 309 students at the school. The goods were distributed at a popcorn party Bryant threw for Cleveland Dec. 13.

"It is a good feeling," said Annemarie Freiermuht, the Cleveland gift giving coordinator for the Bryant PTA. "We had such a great response from our school. They have such a high poverty level and almost no PTA, so it is nice to help out another school."

Each of the 13 families the Bryant PTA adopted wrote wish lists. After receiving the lists, the Bryant PTA split them up so each grade would receive two families to buy for. Each grade pitched in for the 13th family. Students and their families went shopping for PlayStation 2s, Nintendo Game Boys, CD players, DVD players, toys, household items and more.

"Each family received around 30 to 50 presents," Freiermuht said. "We shopped for the whole family to make sure everybody gets something. A majority of the presents were brought in by students."

Additional money was raised to buy presents left over on the lists. The PTA held a holiday gift shop for students to buy gifts for their own families and all the money raised went to buying the rest of the presents. In addition, Tampa based Sweetbay Supermarkets provided a bag of food and Fun Services of Lutz offered stocking for all the families.

Allison Mayfield, a student at Bryant, went shopping with her mother Michelle, PTA president, for the rest of the presents.

"It was fun, because we could buy for other people and know we were helping them." Allison Mayfield said. "It feels good to get things for others."

In addition to raising money for Christmas presents, the PTA helps Cleveland with other fundraising. The Bryant PTA is trying to raise money to construct covers over the basketball courts at both Bryant and Cleveland.

"We couldn't even begin to describe how much we appreciate what they have done for and our children," said Zoila Rodriguez, a data processor at Cleveland. "Our PTA consists of two people, but if our kids need us, we will do whatever we can for them. It also teaches the children to think of other who are less fortunate."

Cleveland administrators decided which families were chosen for the PTA to adopt. Students submitted requests for assistance, and the administration chose the families that needed it most due to situations within the family.

"With 97 percent of the school on free lunch, it was a hard decision to make," said Rodriguez. "Mary E. Bryant is our angel on Earth. They are phenomenal, caring, compassionate and giving people. We don't know what we would do without them."

Bryant's PTA also raised money so the school could have a license to show movies and has provided money to buy the movies and the equipment to show them on.

"If they need it, we are going to get it," said Freiermuht.

This article was from the "Tampa Tribune"

In its first year of business, SmartSuites on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Tampa "hired and fired" three cleaning service crews for lack of quality work.

But its management team has since put the poor track record behind them. In fact, it has nothing but praises for the custodial care the offices now receive.

The company recently signed with Jantize of Tampa Bay, a full-service commercial cleaning service owned by Temple Terrace resident Chris Cimino.

"They do an awesome job, their products are wonderful and I would recommend them to anyone," said SmartSuites client care coordinator Kathy McDougall. "Chris makes sure his crew is doing what they should be doing and if not, he personally takes care of it."

The first of its kind in Florida under the umbrella of Jantize America, Cimino operates his company as a regional master franchise business owner, one in which he partners with other local Jantize Tampa Bay independently owned franchises to provide them with training, marketing, billing, collections and other support services. Cimino's company also offers each franchise a guaranteed customer base.

By doing so, said Cimino, franchise owners – who have a vested interest in the company are able to concentrate on giving quality customer service. "We're kind of a 'no excuses' company," Cimino said. "It's not that we don't make mistakes, but it's about how we handle them."

The company's cleaning products, he added, are superior to most in that they are environmentally friendly and kill 99 percent of all germs.

"Our ultimate goal is to create a healthy, clean environment for our customers," he said. Angelette Aviles, the owner of Salon Bella of Tampa in Temple Terrace had used another cleaning service prior to learning about Jantize.

"Chris' company is much more structured and more professional – they actually have a check list they use," Aviles said. "Although it's not him doing the actual cleaning, Chris has been great by always following up."

The company's customer satisfaction statistics, Cimino said, speak for themselves. "Jantize America's customer retention rate is over 98 percent," he said. "That's because our customers experience the best of both worlds - the service and relationship of working with a small business owner backed by the expertise and size of a larger corporation."

Among the company's cleaning services are carpet cleaning, restroom sanitizing, furniture polishing, window washing, paper supply restocking, trash removal and floor care. Handy man, painting, wallpapering and pressure washing services are also available.

"We're a full-service company - a 'one-stop shop.'" Cimino said.

For more information, visit www.jantizetampabay.com or call Cimino at 830-7570.

This article was from the "Temple Terrace News Section of the Tampa Tribune"