Charity » Building the Places You Call Home

What We Love About Gainesville – April 2013

Ride With Us

It’s spring in Gainesville, which means beautiful sunny days with a cool breeze blowing through town. It’s the perfect time to get outdoors and enjoy this wonderful weather on your bicycle! Don’t have one? Then get one from Gator Cycle! Gator Cycle is located on the corner of Archer Rd and 34^th Street. They’re the largest bike shop in town and even offer bike rentals if you’re not ready to commit and purchase. Gator Cycle doesn’t just sell and rent bikes, they also service them. Their service pricing is very straightforward and can be found on their website. They’re also having a huge sale April 11-15^th! Their TrekFest Spring Sale will allow you to get an awesome bike and accessories at a discount!
We love them because their passionate about cycling and want to get you the bike that’s perfect for your body and needs! Still not sure why you should choose Gator Cycle? Check out these 9 reasons why they’re the best place for you!

Mmm Me Gusta

La Nopalera is a delicious and affordable Mexican restaurant on SW 34^th St. Their queso is heaven, which seems redundant because obviously queso is heaven! All of us here at Emmer frequent La Nop and are never disappointed! Pretty much everything on the menu is delicious; I haven’t had something I didn’t like! Some personal favorites are the Taco Salad, burrito lunch meal, and of course the queso. The friendly staff serve large portions of food quickly, plus you can’t beat the price! Check out their menu on their Facebook Page and be sure to stop in for dinner!

A Place for Girls

Girl’s Place empowers girls to grow courageous, strong and self-sufficient by providing them with a place they can go after school to complete their homework, participate in sports and craft activities, hear from special guests, participate in field trips, and grow in a safe and nurturing environment. The girls are picked up from school and transported to Girl’s Place where they enjoy the afternoon and get picked up by their parents by 6:00pm. Girl’s place provides a free snack as well as concessions where food can be purchased. Girl’s Place also has a summer camp from June 10^th-August 16^th, Monday through Friday from 7:30am-6:00pm. Girl’s Place offers financial assistance to families who cannot afford the membership and weekly fees. Emmer Group supports Girl’s Place in their efforts to empower girls in the community to become strong women. Emmer is participating in the Hats, Hearts, and Handbags Luncheon fundraiser on April 12, 2013. We’re selling $1 raffle tickets and 1 lucky winner will win a night on the town to Vellos Brickstreet Grille. Be sure to get your raffle ticket before Thursday!

What We Love About Gainesville – Novemeber 2012

Something wonderful about Gainesville is that is a very affordable city. We’ve got great food and shops whose products fit within the budget of most. Now that the holidays are around the corner, we’re very conscious of our spending and want to find the best bang for our buck. Here are just a few of Gainesville’s affordable treasures, because living practically doesn’t have to be magic!

Food:

Pomodoro Cafe is a delicious Italian restaurant across from Santa Fe College on 39^th Ave. It’s not particularly on the way to most places, but it’s worth the detour. Dining in is a great experience because they have murals of Italy on all of the walls, good service, and delicious food, plus they have great specials Monday-Wednesday. Mondays offer all day happy hour specials, Tuesday is seafood festival – a huge amount of seafood and pasta for just $10.99, and Wednesday is Zia Pasta Day which is ALL YOU CAN EAT pasta for $7.99! Every day, Pomodoro has their extravaganza menu which is impressive as well, including $10 for one or $25 for a 3 course dinner for two; click here if you don’t believe me! They also offer gluten free pizza and pasta! So you’re probably thinking, for these prices it can’t be that good, right? Wrong, and it gets even better because you get 2 for 1 Large and medium pizzas, calzones, hot subs, and classic pastas when you place them as a take-out order. Naturally the pizzas are better when you dine in, because they’re crispier, but if you crack the box open on the way home you can save some of the crisp from getting soggy from the steam. Pomodoro is a great local gem that is affordable for one, two, the whole family, and more! Learn more about the Café and their menu by clicking here.

Great Product + Great Company = Gainesville at its finest:

Fracture’s mission is to redefine the way the world prints and displays its favorite images and they’re doing that by printing your digital photos directly onto glass. The display is truly beautiful because the photos are vibrant and displayed in such a clean and chic way. It’s a modern approach to displaying your photos and is very affordable! Prices start at $10 and go up to $40 according to the size of print $fracture office$ you’re after, they even do custom sizes and you can request a quote through their new Custom Order Page. Fracture doesn’t just offer Gainesville and the world an innovative product. They are involved with the Gainesville community and many philanthropic endeavors. Their most recent endeavor is the Likes for Tikes program they’re running through December. For every new like to their Facebook page, they’ll donate a toy to a hospitalized child at Shands Hospital for the Holidays. So get to liking the Fracture Facebook Page, and trust me their social media is great so you won’t regret it! This young company is really making an impression on the Gainesville community and we love their high quality, affordable product and excellent customer service so be sure to check them out and add some fractures to your holiday gift list! You can learn more about the company by visiting www.Fractureme.com.

Museums:

We have the Harn Museum of Art and The Florida Museum of Natural History right on UF’s campus. Both museums have free entry for everyone. The Harn has an array of work from all over the world from the Incans, Asians, Europeans, Africans, and Americans. The museum has pottery, woodwork, photography, and paintings including an incredible Monet. The Harn Museum’s shop has lots of beautiful things for sale including vases, jewelry, teapots, and so much more. To learn more about the Harn Museum go to http://www.harn.ufl.edu/

The Florida Museum of Natural History takes you on a journey through Florida’s history, from being underwater to being inhabited by Native Floridians, to the impacts of modern life on our ecosystem. The museum also has a Butterfly Rainforest where you can watch the 60-80 butterfly species in their habitat. Butterflies are born in the museum and released into the rainforest daily, weather permitting. The Butterfly Rainforest costs $9 for students and seniors and $10.50 for adults. The Natural History Museum also has a temporary exhibit showcasing the comic strip, Peanuts, which is $3.50 for students/ Florida residents/seniors and $4 for adults. To learn more about the exhibits and upcoming events go to http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu.