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Southwest Florida Expressway Chairman Bill Barton Receives Civic “Investing in the Future” Award
A Naples couple was recognized Thursday night for being instrumental in helping the PACE Center for Girls in Immokalee move to a much-needed new building.
Bill Barton, 68, and his wife, Pat, 67, were honored with "Investing in the Future" award during the annual Practical Academic Cultural Education Center for Girls Inc. leadership conference dinner at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club in Naples.
About 140 people gathered for a night of recognition, where Walter McNeil, state secretary of juvenile justice, was the keynote speaker. Thursday's leadership dinner was a culmination of an all-day conference, held in Immokalee, which included staff and board members from all of the 19 PACE locations in Florida. "We are thrilled to be here to celebrate the opening of the new building in Immokalee," said Donna Gallagher, president and CEO of PACE Center for Girls, Inc. After Pat Barton's dedication of raising $6.2 million, and Bill Barton's, a retired CEO of WilsonMiller Inc., service as an owner representative during the construction of the new, 23,000-square-foot, Spanish mission-style building, the young girls were able to move out of cramped quarters that they had occupied for nine years. The new building opened in mid-June. The couple was "honored and thrilled" to be receiving the award, said Pat Barton, who has been board member of PACE in Collier County since 1998. "I feel a little bit guilty in getting the award when there were so many others who worked hard to get the building," said Barton, chairwoman of the 2005-07 Capital Campaign Committee.
Today, Pat, a former secretary of PACE's state board, is still active in fundraising for PACE in Immokalee, one of the 19 locations in Florida, which opened in 1998.
PACE, a nonprofit organization, is a year-round alternative schools are geared for girls, ages 12 to 18, who are having difficulty or conflict at school. "We wouldn't be here without their support and leadership," Executive Director Theresa Miller said. "Words cannot express our gratitude for what they have done for our girls, our children and really for Collier County." PACE in Immokalee is founded 55 per cent by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The rest, from Collier County School Board, local foundations and private donations. Collier County's PACE currently serves 41 students, with 82 students on the waiting list. "Both of us think PACE is wonderful because 93 percent of the women do not reoffend," Pat said. "There is probably a need for a PACE in every county in Florida." But, there is not enough Florida Legislature money, she added. "We love the way the community has helped us, but we always have needs," she said. Bill Barton is a former chairman of the Economic Development Council of Collier County and founding chairman of the Collier County Education Foundation. Currently, he is chairman of Southwest Florida Expressway Authority and managing partner of Panther Island Mitigation Bank, one of the premier wetland restoration projects in Southwest Florida.
Pat Barton, a former chairwoman of Juvenile District Board and Collier County Juvenile Justice Council, is on the Juvenile Assessment Center in Collier County.
The couple, who grew up in Sarasota and have lived in Naples for the past 42 years, have been married for 48 years. They have three children and eight grandchildren.
Also honored Thursday night was Lee County Circuit Judge James H. Seals, who serves in the 20th Judicial Circuit in the juvenile division.
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