Megachurch members raise $600,000 for charity in two days

This is truly a Christmas miracle.

When Christ Fellowship Church asked its parishioners to help make "an everlasting impact on the hurting and under resourced this month", the idea was simply to raise $337,000 on the weekend of Dec. 15 and 16.

The result was overwhelming, when thousands of families attending one of the megachurch’s six campuses throughout Miami-Dade County decided it was truly more blessed to give than to receive, and raised more than $601,000 in two days.

According to Aimee Artiles, a spokeswoman from the church, "Thousands of churchgoers waited in line to give, using debit cards, writing checks, and turning in cash." Every penny of the money collected will be used to help the hurting and under-resourced in Miami and India," she said.

Artiles said more than half the money will stay in Miami, and will be used by a nonprofit organization affiliated with the church, Caring for Miami, to help meet the dental, medical and mental needs of thousands in South Florida. Caring for Miami’s most recent tax return lists the organization’s largest activities as including counseling on abortion alternatives, post-abortion counseling, assistance to homeless people, and aid to proselytizing activities.

The Rev. Rick Blackwood, senior pastor of the church said, "Christ Fellowship is blessed with the capacity to dream big. This December, we challenged everyone, including our own staff, to give big and be a light to their community and the world. the results were astounding."

Even the children’ were encouraged to bring in a new gift for a local foster child, as well as donate their own pennies to help another child in need. The children alone, raised $3,814.05 in pennies. The middle and high school youngsters were encouraged to leave their own shoes behind after service and more than 1,855 pairs of shoes were

collected in one weekend and will be shipped to others in need in countries like El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti.

Christ Fellowship is one of the region’s largest churches, with campuses in downtown Miami, Palmetto Bay, West Kendall, Homestead, Redland and Coral Gables. For more information about the church, call 786-486-7339 or visit www.cfmiami.org.

Pastor honored

On Jan. 5, Bishop Walter H. Richardson, one of the longest serving pastors in Miami-Dade County, will celebrate his 90th birthday. To honor him, his church family will have a gala dinner at Miami Shores Country Club, followed by a special worship service on Jan. 6, in the church sanctuary at 1351 NW 67th St. in Liberty City.

Richardson is one of the county’s unsung heroes. He quietly goes about doing all the good he can for the downtrodden and those who are victims in natural disasters throughout the world. And he hasn’t just started doing good; when millions were homeless during the Rwanda crisis, he spearheaded a movement in the church to collect t-shirts, soap, medical supplies and ponchos for children whose parents had been killed in the civil war and were living in refugee camps. His efforts spilled over into the community and members of the congregation met two evenings to pack the items, which the church then paid thousands of dollars to have the items shipped to Africa.

He did the same thing when there was a natural disaster and thousands in the United States, Haiti, the Bahamas, Jamaica and other Caribbean countries needed help.

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This is what an 8-year-old girl found under the Christmas tree...

Holy shoot!

A grinch slipped a real handgun into a wrapped gift that was part of a church gift collection for foster kids — and it ended up in the hands of an 8-year-old Harlem girl who found it alongside a mama-and-baby teddy-bear set, The Post has learned.

Natasha Brunson said, “Oh wow!” and waved the gun around to show everyone on Christmas morning — but luckily, it was inoperable.

“This is something you never expect on Christmas,” said her foster mom, Sheeba Anderson.

“I feel like we narrowly avoided what could have been a terrible disaster. I couldn’t calm down all day.”

BAD BEAR: A Harlem foster child opening a donated present found this pistol at the bottom of the box.

Anderson, 42, picked up two bags of already-wrapped presents last Thursday from St. Anthony’s Church in SoHo.

She brought them to her home in the Frederick Douglass Houses for her six foster kids.

On Christmas morning, she handed out the gifts to the thrilled children, including the box to Natasha.

“I thought they were really pretty,” little Natasha said. “So I was squeezing the bears and just starting to play with it.”

When she reached inside to grab the baby bear, she felt something hard, but figured it was simply a stand.

“But then I reached in and took out a gun,” she said. “I thought it was another toy that fell inside the box.”

Anderson was watching another child open a gift when she spotted Natasha holding the pistol.

“I heard her say, ‘Look, Miss Sheeba, I found a gun!’ She was waving it around and playing with it.”

Anderson took the gun from the girl and checked the other donated presents to make sure there weren’t potentially dangerous items in the packaging.

“I grabbed the dolls, too, and started examining them,” she said.

“Who knows what else was going on with this bear? It could have had drugs or needles or anything else in there.”

Anderson also called police, who took the weapon.

The firing pin had been removed and there were no bullets or visible serial numbers, sources said.

Investigators were still trying to determine the make and model of the weapon and how it was donated.

The gifts were provided by a nonprofit that has a contract with the Administration for Children’s Services, sources said.

Calls to St. Anthony’s were not returned.

An ACS spokesman said the agency was “concerned” over the incident.

Anderson was outraged that the weapon had made its way into her home.

“I treat these kids as if they are my own. I also expect ACS to feel the same way,” she said.

“This is the last thing I would have expected. Security has to be improved. These are anonymous donations. They could have come from anywhere and anyone.”

Additional reporting by Brad Hamilton

larry.celona@nypost.com

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Deadline to apply for free foreclosure case reviews is Monday

Florida residents who believe they suffered from shoddy foreclosure practices have through Monday to apply for a free case review that could net them up to $125,000 if wrongdoing is found.

The program, which is overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, began in November 2011 with an estimated 4 million eligibility letters mailed nationwide.

As of late September, just 3.8 percent of Floridians who were sent letters about their eligibility for the review have applied.

Cases are eligible for review if the foreclosure was on a primary residence in some stage of foreclosure during 2009 and 2010. The foreclosure had to have been handled by one of 24 banks or mortgage servicers named in consent orders crafted in response to findings of foreclosure deficiencies. The affected servicers can be found at independentforeclosurereview.com.

Problems contacting borrowers who may have been evicted from foreclosed homes, as well as borrower fatigue in applying for aid programs probably contributed to the limited response, some foreclosure defense attorneys said.

“A lot of these homeowners have been promised a lot of things in the past that were never fulfilled,” said attorney Ron Kaniuk, of Sachs Sax Caplan in Boca Raton. “It’s the law of diminishing returns. Once you are disappointed a few times, you stop filling stuff out.”

The Independent Foreclosure Review is separate from the $25 billion attorneys general settlement reached in February.

Nationwide, the return rate of borrowers responding to eligibility letters was about 5.3 percent through Sept. 27. Since then, an additional 121,677 borrowers have applied nationwide, said Bryan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The original deadline to apply for the review was April 30. It was pushed back to July 31 and then Dec. 31.

Reviewers are looking for several problems including failure to put a homeowner on a permanent loan modification after he or she successfully completed a trial period, foreclosing on a borrower while he or she was current on payments under a loan modification, and not providing a borrower with proper notification during a foreclosure.

Remediation to borrowers can include credit fixes, reimbursement of improperly charged fees, and lump-sum payments of between $500 and $125,000.

For more information about the Independent Foreclosure Review, call 1-888-952-9105.

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Outdoorsy fun for the New Year’s holiday

So, as Miss Ella once sang, What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

Many of you, of course, will ring in 2013 with champagne and dancing at one of the clubs in Miami Beach or downtown Miami — and many of these same people will wake up with a hangover Tuesday only to wonder why they spent $2,000 to be in the same space as R&B/hip-hop act Drake and a DJ at the Fontainebleau or depressed that they spent $1,500 for a VIP table at the Catalina’s Studio 54 party to hear ’70s disco when they could have played Donna, Gloria and the Village People at any old time on iTunes for a few houseguests.

Clubbing not your thing? Good thing you live in South Florida, where going outside generally makes sense at this time of year. Here are some suggestions for activities, with an accent on the great outdoors and even a little fitness thrown in for good measure.

King Mango Strut

The annual spoof of the Orange Bowl Parade — or whatever some politician wants to call it now, as in ‘La Gran Naranja’ — has been “putting the ‘nut’ back in ‘Coconut Grove’ since 1981,” its ads tout. This time around, being an election year should provide plenty of fodder, and not just the silliness going on in West Kendall and Brickell, where some people are still waiting to cast a vote in the presidential race. (Obama won, go home.) The snarky parade pokes good-natured fun at the people and things behind the events that made the news snap during the year. This year’s grand marshal will be Clint Eastwood’s chair, fresh from the Republican National Convention.

This year’s parade takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday in downtown Coconut Grove on the corner of Commodore Plaza and Main Highway. The wacky participants turn left onto Main Highway and then left onto Grand Avenue at CocoWalk. Get comfy along the street and prepare to giggle. Call the Mango Hotline at 305-582-0955 for information.

The ball drop

You can go traditional and watch the ball drop in downtown Miami at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater New Year’s shindig. The free event features music and the midnight countdown for the dropping of the Big Orange, followed by fireworks. Be there at 301 N. Biscayne Blvd. Call 305-358-7550.

Just want the fireworks part? Miami Beach’s New Year’s Eve Party offers a free fireworks celebration at midnight on the beach near Ocean Drive and Eighth Street, if you can tear yourself away from Carl Cox at Mansion and Calvin Harris at Liv. Call 305-673-7400.

Bike It

Shark Valley, on the Tamiami Trail about 35 miles into the Everglades, is a real South Florida experience. Cycle amid gators — and we’re not talking the University of Florida variety. Alligators, wading birds and turtles frolic freely in the greenery along the 15-mile round-trip bike path. A multilevel observation at the midpoint offers a nice break spot for a boxed lunch or photo ops. There are no shortcuts, but you can opt for a tram tour. Call 305-221-8776.

Other leisurely bike rides around town include the shaded 13 or so miles of the Old Cutler Trail in South Miami, and you can pop over to Pinecrest Gardens for the Sunday Green Market, one of South Florida’s best farmers markets. North Dade residents aren’t too far from the restored Hollywood Beach Broadwalk for some nice ocean views while cycling or strolling.

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Lady Gaga Documentary Announced

The nearly 33 million Little Monsters who follow Lady Gaga on Twitter got a massive Christmas present this morning as the singer revealed she'll soon be coming to a theater near you!

VIDEO - Lady Gaga Hosts Fame Picnic in Paris

"Merry Christmas little monsters," Gaga wrote. "Terry Richardson is making a #LadyGagaMOVIE documenting my life, the creation of ARTPOP + you!"

"Thank you for being so patient waiting for my new album ARTPOP I hope this gets u excited for things to come. I love you with all my heart!" Gaga announced her fourth album on August 6, 2012 and featured several of the songs in contention for inclusion on her recent Born This Wall Ball. Although no release date is yet known, it's rumored to be due out in Spring 2013.

VIDEO - The Secret Lady Gaga Never Told Beyonce

Gaga has previously collaborated with Richardson on countless magazine covers and 2011's Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson photobook.

Lady Gaga won't be the only major musician to be featured in a documentary next year. It was revealed on November 26 that HBO would be airing a Beyonce documentary on February 16, 2013.

VIDEO - Get A Sneak Peek at Beyonce's Documentary

The film promises extensive first-person footage -- some of it shot by Beyonce on her laptop -- in which she reflects on the realities of being a celebrity, the refuge she finds onstage and the joys of becoming a mother after giving birth to her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in January 2012. Watch a sneak peek below.

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Sandy-struck Staten Island family gets ornaments from White House — 1000s still powerless

Most Christmas tree lights blink on and off — but incredibly, thousands of New Yorkers are still stuck completely in “off” since Hurricane Sandy.

But in the areas hardest hit, the lights are slowly coming back — each a symbol of hope.

In Rockaway Park, power was finally restored yesterday to a 70-unit apartment building.

Until now, the residents had only partial power provided by generators.

“Before, it was candles, flashlights and takeout food,’’ said Dennis Krecko, 57. “It was a nice Christmas present.

“I can live my life normally again,’’ he said. “I can use the microwave. I can heat something in the toaster.

Matthew McDermott

STALWARTS: Debbie and Joe Ingenito (above) enjoy a makeshift tree yesterday outside their Staten Island home.

Next year, it will be inside and feature this ornament (above) from President Obama.

William Miller

Meanwhile, Valerie and Dennis Krecko (above), of Rockaway Park, finallly have power back last night.

“Life is slowing coming back to Rockaway.’’

His tree sports ornaments cut by a neighbor from pieces of the destroyed boardwalk. They say “Hope’’ on one side and “2012’’ on the other.

More than 1,000 Con Ed customers are without power in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. LIPA says some 8,100 homes in the Rockaways are so badly damaged, they still can’t accept electricity.

Meanwhile, Joe and Debbie Ingenito and their three children are among the lucky residents of Staten Island — their power is back and their lives have been brightened by President Obama’s gift of two ornaments for their tree.

After The Post wrote about the makeshift Christmas tree that Joe had erected on his sidewalk from a fallen spruce in front of his Sandy-ravaged New Dorp home, the commander-in-chief sought out the family and an aide delivered the special gifts.

“It’s an honor. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal,” said Joe, who decorated his 7-foot outdoor tree with debris salvaged after the storm.

He’s still improvising. The tree outside the home now sports a string of white lights, a mask, goggles, a worker’s glove, bells, a can of Goofy String, someone’s cap and a Hannah Montana bag.

Joe is saving the president’s two precious ornaments until next year, when the family’s tree, hopefully, will be back inside.

One depicts a Santa holding a big red bag outside the White House and reads, “I hear there are some kids in the White House this year.” The other is a vintage car with a driver and passenger wearing a top hat.

“The ornaments are beautiful, very authentic and detailed,” said Debbie, who keeps them in the velvet-lined boxes they came in for fear they would be stolen if they’re put on the tree outside.

She can’t wait until next year, when the family will put them “right at the top” of the tree.

“They will be passed down to the family,” said Debbie.

“When I go, they will go to my firstborn.”

A week after presenting the gifts, Obama gave the Ingenitos a shout-out.

“Today, if you go to Joseph’s street, you’ll see a lot of damage and debris scattered all over the block,” he said.

“But you’ll also see the top of that tree, standing tall in front of his house.” Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen and Joe Tacopino

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Miami: We’re still busiest cruise port

Florida’s ports are steaming bow-to-bow in the race to be the world’s businest cruise ship port.

Though some publications have reported Port Canaveral in the lead with 3,761,056 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, PortMiami officials Monday said they had hosted 3,774,452 passengers during the same period, putting it slightly ahead. Fort Lauderdale’s PortEverglades reported 3,689,000 passengers for the period, putting it slightly behind the others in third place.

“We’re all very close,’’ said Paula Musto, PortMiami spokeswoman.

PortMiami has slipped below its previous high of 4 million plus passengers because of changing ship deployments, she said. That number is expected to again cruise past 4 million in 2013 as several new ships homeport in Miami.

Jane Wooldridge

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New generation of judges serving on federal bench in South Florida

For a fleeting moment this fall, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. declared in jest that he wished he were “king of the world.”

If he had such power, Scola said from the bench, he would deny a defense lawyer’s request to travel to Pakistan to question a group of defendants charged in a Miami terrorism case along with two Muslim clerics. Since the missing defendants weren’t present, the judge considered them “fugitives.’’

But the judge let the defense team make the upcoming trip against fierce opposition from prosecutors, because case law allows such extraordinary depositions, he found.

Scola, a former Miami-Dade prosecutor and state circuit court judge, relishes his role as one of three new members on South Florida’s federal bench, which is experiencing a generational sea change as the result of several retirements and presidential appointments.

“I knew I wanted to be a judge when I was 10 years old; my father was a judge in Massachusetts,” Scola said, during a brief December interview wedged between verdicts in the South Beach “bar-girls” trial and the sentencing of a mental-health clinic director convicted of Medicare fraud.

Over the past few years, the federal court in the Southern District of Florida has seen the departure of four judges — Daniel T.K. Hurley, Paul C. Huck, Alan S. Gold and Patricia A. Seitz — who have gone on “senior” status, meaning they handle lighter caseloads. Another federal judge, Adalberto Jordan, was confirmed this year as a member of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Those five vacancies, in one of the busiest federal districts for criminal and civil cases in the country, accounted for about one-third of all the positions on the federal bench in South Florida.

The retirements have generated coveted openings that have been filled by Scola, 57; Kathleen M. Williams, 56, a former Miami federal public defender; and Robin S. Rosenbaum, 46, a former Fort Lauderdale federal magistrate judge. Rosenbaum, also a one-time federal prosecutor, was sworn in as a new U.S. district judge Dec. 13.

“It’s pretty obvious that Robin is never going to make a decent living,” 11th Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, for whom Rosenbaum once clerked, quipped about her public-service career during her investiture in Fort Lauderdale federal court.

But then Marcus struck a more serious note, describing federal district judges as the “crucible of justice” in the U.S. court system. “I have to say, Robin, this is work you were born to do,” he said.

Another recent nominee: Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William L. Thomas, a former assistant public defender in both the state and federal system. Thomas is scheduled for confirmation as a federal judge in 2013. If confirmed, he would become the first openly gay black man appointed to a federal judgeship in the nation.

Michael Caruso, the Miami federal public defender who replaced Williams in August, said the appointment of federal judges is in many ways a “president’s most enduring legacy.”

“All presidents strive to appoint smart, fair and hardworking lawyers,” Caruso said, commenting on the four nominated by President Barack Obama in South Florida. “President Obama, in addition to choosing women and men who share these traits, has chosen those who’ve been trial lawyers in the criminal justice system and who have devoted a significant portion of their career to public service.”

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Alone together: Grieving dad at Jesse’s grave

No father should have to spend Christmas Eve in a cemetery.

But it was the only place Neil Heslin could be with his 6-year-old son, who was among the 20 youngsters slain in the Newtown, Conn., massacre.

Heslin last saw his adored son, Jesse Lewis, Dec. 13, when the two went Christmas shopping.

“He was rambling on about how this was going to be the best Christmas ever. We got into the whole meaning of Christmas, about giving and not receiving,” Heslin recalled.

“I told him, ‘What makes it happy for me is giving to you and seeing you happy.’

“And the next day — that happened.”

Douglas Healey

SAD HOLIDAY: Neil Heslin yesterday visits the grave of his cherished 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis.

Jesse died a hero. Witnesses said he’d been leading other children to safety when he was gunned down by Adam Lanza.

“I really looked forward to Christmas every year with him,” Heslin said at the Zoar Cemetery, where he and Jesse’s mom planted a rosebush and spruce tree on either side of their little boy’s grave.

“I won’t have any Christmas presents to wrap this year,” he said.

Although Jesse’s parents are no longer together, he used to see them both for the holiday. He’d spend Christmas Eve with his dad while his mom, Scarlett Lewis, finished last-minute shopping.

Then he’d spend Christmas Day with her.

His favorite Christmas decorations were 3-foot-tall wooden nutcrackers — nearly as tall as Jesse.

“He loved them,” his dad said. “He wanted to put them out for every holiday.”

On their last night together, Jesse was busy shopping for others.

“He picked out two Christmas ornaments for [his teacher], Ms. [Victoria] Soto [who was killed] . . . then he got one for his mom, one for his brother, J.T., and one for his best friend, Daniel,” Heslin said.

For Soto, Jesse picked a star and an apple. His mother and brother were to get snowflakes, and he chose a horse for Daniel, since the pals took riding lessons together.

“He bought them with his own money,” Heslin said proudly. “That was money he earned himself, doing odd jobs. He collected bottles too, and brought them to the redemption center.”

Jesse never got the chance to deliver the ornaments, so his dad did it for him.

And yesterday, he made sure his son wasn’t alone for the holiday, even though that meant sitting by his grave instead of by a Christmas tree.

“Boy, was he wrong about this being the best Christmas ever,” Heslin said.

bdefalco@nypost.com

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Miami: We’re still busiest cruise port

Florida’s ports are steaming bow-to-bow in the race to be the world’s businest cruise ship port.

Though some publications have reported Port Canaveral in the lead with 3,761,056 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, PortMiami officials Monday said they had hosted 3,774,452 passengers during the same period, putting it slightly ahead. Fort Lauderdale’s PortEverglades reported 3,689,000 passengers for the period, putting it slightly behind the others in third place.

“We’re all very close,’’ said Paula Musto, PortMiami spokeswoman.

PortMiami has slipped below its previous high of 4 million plus passengers because of changing ship deployments, she said. That number is expected to again cruise past 4 million in 2013 as several new ships homeport in Miami.

Jane Wooldridge

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