Based in Clermont, The Frankie Valente Scholarship Fund will soon hold a huge Lake County Casino Night at the Plantation at Leesburg on Saturday, February 1, 2025, from 4:30 to 9:30 pm. This fun event will be held to support funds for EMT and paramedic education, tuition, books, and supplies.

More than 80 companies have donated over $50,000 in prizes and giveaways that will be distributed at this next event. Those attending will sample delicious entrees, appetizers, desserts and drinks from top Clermont and Central Florida area restaurants and caterers, Root and Branch and Mouthfeel are catering this event, while also participating in raffles for gift certificates, raffle prize baskets, silent auction items and big door prizes. This will soon be a sold-out event with donations for available tickets. Their main event sponsor, Happy Place Travel and Tourism; Kenya Swiss has donated a $2,500 cruise for 2 that will be raffled.

Event co-organizer Anthony Valente shares, “We remain truly thankful to all our generous sponsors, donors and supporters who have continued to contribute their valuable time, talents, foods, gift baskets and services for our Frankie Valente Scholarship Fund. We started this scholarship Fund in 2018 as a 501-C3, when our son Frankie passed away. That week, a friend came up and gave us a check for $500 and said since Frankie loved being an EMT/Paramedic so much, she wanted to start a scholarship in his name. We agreed and knew that we should do more of this. After starting a website, we immediately received private and corporate donations. Since then, we decided to create a series of fundraisers to add more support for First Responders with college scholarships.”

Joyce Valente continues, “We then started an endowment fund with the Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY to give scholarships there.  When we permanently moved from New York to South Lake County in 2021, we started reaching out to find local area colleges to support.  We found that Lake Tech has a great EMT, Paramedic and Firefighter program, so we decided to partner with them. Since being involved with the South Lake Chamber of Commerce as a Trustee Level sponsor, we have expanded the scholarship fund to reach beyond Clermont, to all Lake County.” 

Without the large investment costs to hold a big event like this, the newest 2025 Hawaiian Casino Night, will hopefully raise thousands of in donations. The last one in 2024 raised over $41,000. This new event will include sponsors for the tables, food vendors, printing, design, and a big venue sponsor. The participating businesses in Lake County are not only donating their money to support our scholarship fund, yet they openly donated their services. The Plantation at Leesburg donated the entire Venue. Anthony and Joyce Valente plan to have over 50 volunteers who helped that night.

The Frankie Valente Scholarship Fund has given away quite a few scholarships with 15 new Lake Tech Scholarships and more on the way, over the past few years. They are now working to create a larger Lake Tech Endowment Program with additional funds, so more Lake County students can get the scholarship help they need. The net fund of donations from this newest 2025 Hawaiian Casino Night event will be awarded to local students soon after the event. Some people will be awarded partial scholarships, while some will receive more. With the increasing funds from their events, they will have the ability to help more people, establish different programs and deliver different types of overall help.  

The Valente family believes in the South Lake Chamber of Commerce, while leveraging their relationship to help make a difference while participating in many of the Chamber events. They are planning to hold a golf tournament this coming year.  They are also actively looking to partner with more local companies and organizations to hold mutually benefit events that will help each other.  This is a charity that helps support other charities and community events.”

Advanced ticket purchases are now available for a $35 donation. The Plantation at Leesburg is located at 25201 US Highway 27, in Leesburg, Florida 34748. They are always looking for more companies to become a sponsor, donor, volunteer, or participant in future events. Companies and people can donate through their website. Call: 585-500-9140, Email AValente@TheFVSFund.com or visit: https://www.thefvsfund.com where you can sign up for their newsletter and follow them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/frankievalentescholarshipfund.