No matter where in the world Maribel Lorenzo has lived, she’s always made it a point to help anyone in need.
Even though she’s almost 20 years removed from her volunteer work with the American Red Cross in Belgium, Lorenzo, the manager of CenterState Bank’s Plant City branch, is still going as strong as her schedule will allow.
“I work for such a great company that they want me involved in the community,” Lorenzo said. “I don’t have to ask permission … they support me, 100%.”
PLACE TO PLACE
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx, New York, Lorenzo’s journey around the world started in 1981. Her husband, a United States Army veteran with over two decades of service, began a 19-year stint that took the family abroad. Lorenzo wasn’t always able to work, which drove her to find something to do when she wasn’t helping to raise the couple’s two daughters.
“I’ve moved so many times with my husband that there were times when I didn’t really have the time to work on my profession, and I kind of put my life on hold to be with him, traveling,” Lorenzo said.
To pass the time, Lorenzo decided to seek volunteer work wherever it was needed.
“I’ve always had a giving heart … in every community that I’ve lived in, I got involved doing something,” Lorenzo said. “Because of that, I always have to do something.”
Her favorite volunteer work came at the tail end of the family’s stay in Europe. From 1994 to 1997, while the family was living in Belgium, Lorenzo got involved with the American Red Cross. She mostly worked as a recruiter, reaching out to people from all walks of life and helping them get involved with the humanitarian organization.
“That was a neat experience for me,” Lorenzo said. “The only thing I didn’t like was calling (people) up and giving them bad news. That was the hardest part.”
In 1997, the family ended up in Tampa and, after Lorenzo’s husband retired from the Army, the family settled in Hillsborough County.
“It’s been great,” Lorenzo said. “I enjoy the area. We decided to make this home because our girls. Our oldest one at the time was starting high school. They were just tired of moving.”
Finally able to get back into banking, Lorenzo rejoined the American workforce and saw her daughters through high school and college. But her desire to volunteer never went away, even with a full-time job taking up much of her time.
“If there’s a need for a volunteer, I’m available,” Lorenzo said.
HELPING OUT EVERYWHERE
Lorenzo lives in Riverview, attends church in Brandon and works in Plant City. She’s involved in all three communities, helping out at Riverview’s Relay for Life program and serving as treasurer at her church. But much of her volunteer work happens in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
Lorenzo is involved with the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, often attending ribbon-cuttings to connect with new businesses. She graduated from the chamber’s leadership class in 2011, two years after graduating from that of the Brandon chamber’s, and she also won the Plant City chamber’s 2015 Good Egg Award.
Lorenzo is a member of Plant City Connections, a networking group that holds events at Uncle Mike’s Smokehouse Grill.
She has been involved with the Plant City Lions Club for the last five years and is currently its second vice president. She’s done the Noon Rotary Club’s Dancing With the Locals event once, in 2012, and raised around $3,500.
“We didn’t know how to dance, but we made it fun,” Lorenzo said.
Lorenzo went to “jail” last year to raise money for a muscular dystrophy fundraiser, raising around $1,000 in “bail” money to get out. She’s helped coordinate a bake sale fundraiser for Taylor Goethals’ fight with cancer.
“If I’m doing something to help someone else, that’s where I get satisfaction,” she said. “Seeing a smile on someone’s face.”