IN PICTURES: BIG KAHUNA RAISES MORE THAN $100,000 FOR GOOD HEALTH CLINIC

Emily Strain, left, and Heather Pabotoy, react to being announced the winners of the 2023 Big Kahuna Challenge during the annual Luau for Health. Photos by DOUG FINGER/Keys Weekly.

Contestants vying for the 2023 Big Kahuna raised more than $120,000 for Good Health Clinic, a Florida Keys health care provider for the low-income and uninsured. When all was said and done, the team of Heather Pabotoy and Emily Strain came away with the heavy wooden trophy, which was presented to them at the annual Luau for Health on Oct. 14 at Key Largo’s Dolphins Plus Bayside. The real estate agents with Coldwell Banker Schmitt raised more than $40,000. Kate Banick, GHC executive director, said the event was “super successful” with some of the best fundraisers so far put on by contestants. Funds support the clinic’s day-to-day operations.

Jim McCarthy
Jim McCarthy is one of the many Western New Yorkers who escaped the snow and frigid temperatures for warm living by the water. A former crime & court reporter and city editor for two Western New York newspapers, Jim has been honing his craft since he graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 2014. In his 4-plus years in the Keys, Jim has enjoyed connecting with the community. “One of my college professors would always preach to be curious,” he said. “Behind every person is a story that’s unique to them, and one worth telling. As writers, we are the ones who paint the pictures in the readers minds of the emotions, the struggles and the triumphs.” Jim is past president of the Key Largo Sunset Rotary Club, which is composed of energetic members who serve the community’s youth and older populations. Jim is a sports fanatic who loves to watch football, hockey, mixed martial arts and golf. He also enjoys time with family and his new baby boy, Lucas, who arrived Oct. 4, 2022.