COMMUNITY NEWS BRIEFS

Bryn Sadler of the Harry Potter team clears a jump with Badley’s Waymaker during the inaugural Children’s Charity Classic presented by the United Way of Marion County at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala on Feb. 21, 2025. This year’s event is set for Feb. 20 at the farm. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

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Posted October 6, 2025 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]

Children’s Charity Classic returns in 2026

The Inaugural United Way of Marion County’s Children’s Charity Classic at the HITS Post Time Farm raised $100,000 for local organizations. Building on this success, the second annual Children’s Charity Classic will take place at the HITS complex west of Ocala on Feb. 20, 2026.

United Way is accepting applications from organizations serving children in Marion County. Applications are due by Nov. 5.

To learn more, local agencies that serve children in Marion County can visit uwmc.org/childrens-charity-classic

 

CF honored with Farm Bureau award

The College of Central Florida Vintage Farm Campus is the 2025 Marion County recipient of the Florida Farm Bureau CARES (County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship) award.

The award was presented at the bureau’s annual meeting in September in recognition of the farm’s best management practices, which include being an efficient producer and good steward of its 103 acres.

“This award recognizes our ongoing commitment to protecting agricultural land and reflects the very morals and ethics that our programs not only instill in future agriculture and equine professionals but also embody in our daily work,” said John D. Ash, dean of Business, Technology and Agricultural Sciences, in the news release.

 

Leadership changes for VOCAL

The Voices of Change Animal League (VOCAL) has announced that co-founder Kate Rengel has been appointed executive director.

Rengel has more than 12 years of experience in animal welfare, including the past decade spent building VOCAL alongside fellow founders Lauren Carpenter and Linda Norman. She graduated cum laude from Florida State University with a degree in finance, the news release stated.

Carpenter has been named board president. She succeeds Norman, who has served in that position for the past 10 years. Norman will remain an active board member and has taken on the role of development director while the organization searches for a permanent hire.

 

South Marion High receives FDOE grant

South Marion High School, the newest public high school in Marion County, will offer an artificial intelligence program when it opens next August.

Florida Department of Education officials recently announced that the school is among 49 projects statewide that will receive $40 million through the Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant Program. These dollars expand workforce education programs focusing on in-demand industries, noted the Marion County Public Schools news release.

The grant for $259,635 will help build a highly skilled workforce by equipping students with skills needed to excel in Florida’s priority industries including hands-on training in high-demand industries, according to FDOE.

South Marion is under construction near Marion Oaks in Southwest Marion County. When it opens, the school also will offer other specialized programs such as avionics, digital cinema productions, entrepreneurship, agribusiness and more.