Sarah Gimbel

But in my darkest hour, the outpouring of support from the Tampa Bay community was overwhelming. Brother Officers from the police department stood by me and my family – I knew we were not alone. The entire community, people I didn't even know and had never met, rallied around me in a most unexpected way. Local businesses and private citizens were right there, making sure my family had what we needed. Thousands of dollars were donated to a fund in my name to pay for college tuition. As that summer passed and my mother slowly healed, I embarked on a journey I thought was out of reach when my father passed away, enrolling as a full-time student at the University of South Florida. My father’s dream was to put me through college and, with the outpouring of help from every member of this great community, I see his dreams and mine being realized.

Through all this I awoke to how truly important giving back to those who gave so much to me became. I decided to establish a foundation in my father’s name to give scholarship monies to deserving high school seniors, allowing them to follow their dreams and let my father’s legacy live on. The Howard Gimbel Memorial Foundation is a registered 501(c) (3) charitable corporation and all donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. Through this charity I have found so much joy, a true happiness, giving to others and back to my community. My father gave me so much and now, through the Foundation, I can honor the community he served, who gave me more than I could imagine when my father no longer could.