In Tough Times, West Tampa Shines ~u One of the houses that was rebuilt by the community for the Kickoff to Rebuild Project 2009 was the Nieves family house. Before (left) the electric did not work properly and there were holes in the wall, mak- ing living there during the winter months hard for Mrs. Nieves. After (right) Mrs. Nieves now enjoys a fully functioning kitchen and a clan, renovated home. (Continued from page 8) who come in the restaurant and say, "Wow, haven't seen you two in a while. This looks great." They serve mainly Cuban food at Castillo's. The broth- ers say they have still flour- ished despite the decrease in the number of people eating out. They say that their West Tampa location is key and that most of their clientele are local. Alessi Bakery has been a West Tampa staple since 1912. Whenever you hear someone is going to Alessi's, most likely you'll hear someone say, "Pick me up a cookie," or 'Grab me a deviled crab." If you happen to have the pleasure to walk in, you might stare at the in- tricately made cakes or cook- ies, carefully made by hand by the chefs. You can gaze at the glass case of pastries, clairs, cookies, Cuban sandwiches, Italian cookies and anything else you might imagine in a bakery.-like heaven. The em- ployees always seem to be in high spirits, and there is a fra- ternal and close-knit relation- ship among them. They have a lot to be happy about. Since they have been around for a long time as both a caf and catering company, Alessi's has had a lot to offer different customers through- out the years. "We can't complain," Rob'- ert Jorge, Alessi's general manager says. "We haven't laid anyone off. We just keep moving forward to the next day." "People come to us for cakes and parties because they want something unique," said Alessi's cake baker. She has a few cakes she recently made in the refrig- erator. One is the shape of a castle. One is a giant Patrn tequila bottle. They also do manufactur- ing and packaging at a plant for other companies, which is another part of the revenue and what kept this West Tam- pa landmark a success. Leo Alvarez agrees that the restaurants and busi- nesses that stay alive in West Tampa are the mom and pop places that refuse to turn into chains. He sees a lot of po- tential and also hopes to see more business being repre- sented at chamber meetings. He says there are great things going on and people just need to hear about them to join in on the growth of West Tampa. When it comes to philan- thropic spirit, there's no bet- ter representation than the Kickoff to Rebuild Project, which stems from Hugh Mac- Farlane's days. The Super Bowl housing repair project is something like the object of the television show Extreme Home Make- over, but with a more personal touch and, of course, focused on West Tampa. They partner with a number of West Tampa businesses who donate their time and services. Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay, who has an agreement with the NFL, and 'is part of the Rebuilding Together national project, is a nonprofit organization that provides home repair services to low-income families, the elderly, military veterans and their families and persons with disabilities in the cities in which the Super Bowl takes place. The focus of the organi- zation is to makes 'homes .safer, healthier and more en- ergy efficient for their owners. In 2001, they rebuilt three homes. This time around, they wanted to do a better job. Its Tampa Bay chapter was (Continued on page 10) STRONG LOCAL RoOTS he Bank of Tampa has A. specialized in serving law firms, medical practices, CPA firms, other professionals, and owner-managed businesses for 25 years. Ifyour business or professional practice could benefit from a local bank with local bankers, visir any of our nine offices. The Bank of Tampa BANKING INVESTMENTS TRUST Localey connected personal y committed' 872-1200 www.bankoftampa.com Member FDIC e..,,,. LA GACETA/Friday, May 8, 2009/Page 9 Section B 2 BGL Saturday June 13th Arturo Sandoval 5pm Gilberto Santa Rosa 8pm 15 y [el J.wqj M=4