BY JAMES HARPER
DAYTONA TIMES

A group of Daytona Beach residents, with the support of the Volusia County Health Department, have identified two solutions to deal with environmental health and communication problems in the city’s Midtown area.

Dr. Evelyn Bethune

The steering committee of Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence (called PACE-EH) is putting together a community calendar of happenings unique to Midtown residents and are asking organizations to provide them with a list of events.

Suzanne Grubbs, PACE-EH facilitator, says the Midtown community calendar will prevent the overlap of major community events, encourage collaboration between community organizations and provide vital information concerning community events and resources.

"It will also help improve attendance and community support for scheduled community events," said Grubbs.

Calendar would include health reminders

Grubbs said the calendar would include health tips, scholarship deadlines and seasonal reminders for flu shots.

"The community calendar would provide one central location for all community events. It would allow groups and organizations to provide detailed information to be placed on our website for the entire year," added Dr. Evelyn Bethune, president of the Mary McLeod Bethune Legacy Preservation Institute, Inc. "This effort would also improve communications so each organization can see what the other is doing. Our goal is to create an annual calendar of events."

Committee to city:  Help with cleanup

The PACE-EH committee also said Midtown needs a communitywide cleanup and has called on the mayor and the city to help sponsor such an event in the spring.

A letter to Mayor Glenn Ritchey, signed by members of the PACE-EH committee, asked that residents be encouraged to bring their trash from their lots, typically larger items such as junk cars, construction debris, etc., to the street. The city would then collect the items on the day they agree to sponsor the cleanup.

"This would assist the city in the reduction of code violations in this area. In addition, research shows there is a correlation between a clean living environment and lower rates of crime," the letter stated.

The PACE-EH steering committee’s focus is in the Midtown area of Daytona Beach. A community health assessment indicated the top five environmental health issues in Midtown are unemployment, crime and drugs, access to health care, meeting basic needs, and flooding.

To impact crime and drugs through environmental means, the PACE-EH steering committee has facilitated two smaller community cleanups on Keech Street. Volunteers also collected over 40 bags of trash from the neighborhoods on Laura, Ruth and North Streets.

For more information on a community cleanup, contact Suzanne Grubbs at 386-274-0695 or via e-mail at

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To submit to the calendar, contact Ethan Johnson at 386-274-0716 or via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .