By Ryan Mills
Naples Daily News
05/08/08

It was mid-December when Collier County sheriff’s deputies discovered nine children alone in a garbage-filled Immokalee apartment after their parents abandoned them and traveled to Haiti.

The children were sent to live in a Youth Haven cottage, where a number of deputies and their family members helped take care of them over Christmas, Collier Sheriff Don Hunter said.

Hunter said that case was a perfect example of his agency working together with Youth Haven, Collier County’s only emergency shelter for abused, abandoned and neglected children.

It was because of his work on behalf of Collier County children that Youth Haven honored Hunter on Thursday afternoon with its annual Frances Pew Hayes Child Advocate of the Year Award. About 100 people attended a $75 luncheon in Hunter’s honor at the Naples Sailing & Yacht Club, 896 River Point Drive.

“Since he’s stepping down as sheriff at the end of this year, we thought this would be the perfect time to thank him for the work that he has done on behalf of children,” Youth Haven Executive Director Ronald McSwiney said.

McSwiney cited Hunter’s work targeting gangs and his establishment of youth camps as examples of the sheriff’s work with children.

“This is an extraordinary event to recognize an extraordinary man that has meant so much to Youth Haven and meant so much to the county,” McSwiney said.

The event ran from 11:30 a.m. to about 1 p.m. in a dining room with swirly blue carpets overlooking Naples Bay. After lunch, which included a salad, a chicken breast, and angel food cake, Florida State Sen. Burt Saunders introduced Hunter.

“Ron (McSwiney) approached me maybe a month ago and said that they wished to do this,” Hunter said. “I said, ‘that would be very kind and a great distinction.’”

Hunter, who serves on Youth Haven’s board of trustees, said he’s always cared about youth services. But Hunter said he would only accept the honor on one condition.

“I told Ron that really I will accept it, but only for the agency I represent,” Hunter told the crowd.

It is the fourth time Youth Haven has presented the award. The previous recipients are philanthropist Lavern Norris Gaynor, 2005; philanthropists Arlene and Jerry F. Nichols, 2006; and children’s advocate Pat Barton, 2007.

“I think it’s important to recognize the people that have really made a difference regarding child abuse and neglect,” McSwiney said. “Money has very little to do with it. It all has to do with the kind of work they’re doing in the county.”

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