TAMPA, Fla. — A Pinellas County man has made it his mission to lead a group of church volunteers to be a blessing to their community. Paul Mazzapica’s joyful spirit really shines as he leads his team.
Mazzapica said he was meeting with some fellow members of Countryside Christian Church seven years ago when they came up with the idea for a volunteer team called Operation Influence. That grew to include giving blessing baskets to local businesses, bags filled with necessities to homeless people, handing out hundreds of wood crosses and recently something called Shine Your Light.
Shine Your Light team members go to assisted living centers to sing karaoke with residents. On a recent evening at Collier’s Assisted Living, Mazzapica was setting up his karaoke gear inside a large meeting area. There was a computer for streaming music and some large speakers…