CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER GENERAL MEETING

CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER GENERAL MEETING

LOCATION: Leu Gardens - Magnolia Room

6:30pm-7:00pm - Social time

7:00pm - Presentation begins

Guests are invited to bring a snack to share before the start of the meeting
We will also be having a 1/2 back raffle where you can purchase one ticket for $1 or six tickets for $5. The winner will receive 1/2 the pot! The raffle will conclude the end of our meeting.

This months speaker:

Connor Romito and M'kenzy Link

Green PLACE Program (Park Land Acquisition for Conservation and Environmental Protection)
The Green PLACE program is an initiative to preserve, enhance and restore environmentally sensitive lands with the goal to establish regional corridors, greenways and blueways within Orange County. Mayor Deming’s Transition Team Report and Sustainability Operations Resilience Action Plan established the goal of doubling the amount of preservation lands by 2030. As of 2024, Orange County and the Environmental Protection Division, in cooperation with its partners, has purchased approximately 23,877 acres of environmentally sensitive land. The Green PLACE program’s recreational team is looking forward to sharing information on the Green PLACE program’s current operations and a synopsis of what the program provides for Orange County’s residents and natural habitats.

Presenters:

• Connor Romito joined Orange County’s Green PLACE program as an On-Call Professional in 2022. As part of the Green PLACE program’s recreation team, he assists in maintaining the trails and nature-based recreation amenities for the ten Green PLACE properties that are open to the public. Formerly, he was part of zoological and conservation education fields. Connor has a Masters of Biology from Miami University where he focused his studies on nature recreation activities near metropolitan areas. During his time at Miami University he also was part of the Global Field Program where he participated in conservational projects in Costa Rica, Belize, and the Baja Peninsula. In his spare time, Connor enjoys traveling and experiencing new natural landscapes with his family and friends.

• M'kenzy Link started with the Orange County Green PLACE Program as a Student Intern in 2022, until she graduated in 2023 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science. She is now in her current position as an On-Call Professional. As the counterpart to the recreation team, she assists in maintaining the open properties and hiking trails, as well as acquisition of Environmentally Sensitive Lands. In her free time, she enjoys music and the outdoors.