In this episode of Beneath the Surface, host Luke Hannon sits down with Adam Zuccaro, Lieutenant of the St. Lucie County Fire District and President of the St. Lucie County Firefighters Surfers for Autism chapter, for a conversation on service, community, and the healing power of the ocean.

Adam shares his journey from a childhood dream of becoming a firefighter to founding a local Surfers for Autism chapter after his son's diagnosis. From saltwater therapy to the unexpected training value for first responders, this episode explores what it means to build something lasting at the intersection of service and community.

0:00 — Intro0:30 — Adam's Path to the Fire Service5:00 — Discovering Surfers for Autism8:30 — Saltwater Therapy and Inclusion13:00 — The Volunteer Experience17:00 — Training Firefighters Through Service21:30 — Building the St. Lucie County Chapter27:00 — The A&G Partnership32:00 — Stories from the Beach35:30 — Outro

In this episode of Beneath the Surface, host Luke Hannon sits down with Lauren DeAcetis, Director of Sales and Corporate Partnerships for the Florida Operations of the New York Mets, for a conversation on baseball, community, and the unique experience of working in minor league sports.

Lauren shares her journey from Toledo, Ohio to the Treasure Coast, where a leap of faith at the 2012 Winter Meetings led to an internship with the St. Lucie Mets and a career that's spanned over a decade. The discussion explores what makes the Mets' Florida operation unique as one of the few minor league teams owned directly by its major league affiliate, offering both spring training and a full minor league season at Clover Park.

From the evolution of the Hometown Heroes program honoring local veterans to the energy of a new season on the horizon, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to build something meaningful at the intersection of sports and community.

0:00 — Intro0:30 — Lauren's Journey to the Mets4:00 — Breaking Into Minor League Baseball7:30 — Spring Training11:30 — Preparing for the Season15:00 — The A&G Partnership17:30 — Hometown Heroes Program23:00 — Community Nights and Nonprofits28:30 — The Impact of Minor League Baseball33:00 — How the Game Has Evolved41:00 — Looking Ahead to the New Season44:30 — Outro

In the second episode of Season 2 of Beneath the Surface, host Luke Hannon sits down with Shannon Glendenning, Director of Development, and Nukhet Hendricks, Executive Director of the Humane Society of St. Lucie County, for a conversation on community, compassion, and the evolving role of animal welfare.

Shannon and Nukhet share their individual paths to the organization and the philosophy driving their work: building lasting partnerships, shifting from reactive to proactive approaches, and creating a space that serves both pets and the people who love them. As the Humane Society celebrates its 70th anniversary, this episode offers a closer look at what it takes to care for a community, one pet at a time.

0:00 — Intro

0:30 — Meeting Shannon and Nukhet

4:30 — Building Community Partnerships

10:30 — The Vision for an Animal Welfare Center

14:00 — A New Cat Building

17:00 — Stories That Define the Mission

22:30 — Shannon's Journey with Animals

25:00 — The Future of the Humane Society

30:00 — Outro