Beach Realtor named honorary grand marshall of Edison Festival of Light parades
The Edison Festival of Light is proud to announce that local resident and Beach Realtor Cynthia Shafer has been named as the Honorary Grand Marshal for the Edison Festival Junior Parade on Feb. 12 and the Grand Parade of Light on Feb. 18. Nominations were received by those in the community wishing to recognize the “unsung heroes” of our community. Online voting gave a “People’s Choice” opportunity and the winning nominee was named at the Edison Festival Mutt Strutt at Sam Galloway Ford this past weekend.
Three other nominated finalists received recognition for their community support Patricia Bell and Frank and Betty Haskell.
Shafer has worked tirelessly for more than 16 years as a guardian ad litem representing abused, abandoned and neglected children in the community. She and her husband established the Bedz for Kids program which provides beds and bedding to children who are in foster care. They deliver up to 20 beds each weekend! She is also president of Voices for Kids of Southwest Florida, which serves Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. Cynthia volunteers up to 30 hours per week to answer a need in the community and does not ever ask for or expect recognition. She has been a professional Realtor since 1993, currently working at Lahaina Realty on Fort Myers Beach, and served as the president of the Fort Myers Beach Board of Realtors and state chapter president of Women’s Council of Realtors.