Martina Sykes: Using her talent and blessings to bless the less fortunate

By Allen A. Buchanan, Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — Martina Sykes’ most enduring quality is not that she is a national performing artist of critical acclaim, but that she has always been an altruistic, community minded person. Within minutes of talking to her, this becomes very obvious.

It should come as no surprise that early in her professional career as a singer, actress and dancer that she is embarking on a mission to help the most desperate citizens in her home community by starting the heART Mission with the help of other like-minded artists in New York City and around the country.

The heART Mission is a community service-based organization designed by artists of the Broadway community to give back to the community through acts of service. These services include, but are not limited to, clothing drives, food drives, preparing and feeding the homeless or family and youth in crisis, mentorship programs that provided master classes and performing.

Over the next few weeks, Martina will be sharing stories about some of the people that she has met and will begin to help starting with the kickoff drive in St. Petersburg on March 24.