Visalia family gives back to UCPCC

Imagine you’re a 16-year-old girl and doctors tell you your eight-month-old baby has cerebral palsy.

That’s what happened to Flo Hall-Green, co-owner of Kerribb Flava’, a popular food truck that serves Jamaican food to customers up and down the Valley.

“I was a child not knowing anything about life,” Hall said. “I didn’t know what cerebral palsy was.”

Hall was connected with the Central Valley Regional Center, which pointed her to United Cerebral Palsy of Central California. UCPCC offers services to children and adults and with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injuries and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Going to UCP weekly gave me more emotional support,” Hall said. “As an adult now, it was what I needed as a young mom because it was people understanding my feelings at the time. I looked forward to those weekly meetings.”

Now Flo and her husband, Kerran, are giving back to United Cerebral Palsy of Central California because she says the organization gave her a shoulder to lean on when she and her son, Ja-Saun, now 29, needed it most.

On Saturday, March 28, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Kerribb Flava’ will be hosting the second annual Cerebral Palsy Awareness Fundraiser at BarrelHouse Brewing Co. in Visalia. For a $25 ticket, event-goers will receive their choice of meal from Kerribb Flava’s Jamaican dishes, including Jerk Chicken, Caribbean Beef, Curry Chicken, Coconut-Garlic

Buttered Fish and Jerk Pork.

There also will be a raffle and silent auction. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales, the raffle, silent auction and beer sales at the brewery will all go to benefit UCPCC’s programs for children and adults with disabilities.

Being this is the second year of this event, Flo says she wants people to understand what UCPCC means to her and her family.

“When it was all new to me, I’m sure I asked the same question just different ways,” Flo says. “And I never came across anyone who wasn’t knowledgeable about what the company was.

Either they had a family member who also was going through it or they were just passionate. And if they didn’t know the answer, they found somebody who did know."

Flo says she hopes events like this raise awareness to all parents who have questions and are looking for answers and support.