ORLANDO, Fla. — For decades, Mable Butler has been a champion for people in Central Florida, but she has always held a special place in her heart for seniors, spending most of her free time helping at the L. Claudia Allen Senior Center in the Washington Shores community.

A former member of the Orlando City Council and Orange County Commission, Butler is at the center helping with senior care weekly, where she plans day trips and makes sure visitors have all the resources they need.

What You Need To Know

  • Former member of the Orange County Commission and Orlando City Council, Mable Butler, is continuing to champion resources for seniors in Central Florida 

  • In the early 1980s, Butler was instrumental in getting the L. Claudia Allen Senior Center started in the Washington Shores Community, thanks to the help of former Orlando Mayor Carl Langford and former Commissioner Pappy Kennedy     

  • Butler volunteers weekly, sometimes daily, at the senior center, helping to make sure each of the center visitors have the resources that they need from the city and the county to thrive 

“I’ve been fighting for this center ever since it’s been here, because I fought to get it here when Pappy Kennedy and Mayor (Carl) Langford (were in office)," Butler said. "This was the Washington Shores Youth Center. This is what the county built on the very end of a muddy road."

The muddy road, which was once called Minor Avenue, now is Mable Butler Avenue, an honor for which she is grateful.

“The honor is mine, because normally they don’t name things after living people because you can embarrass the city, county or state," she said. "But I promised them I wouldn’t shoot nobody. I wouldn’t steal nothing. But I wouldn’t stop cussing."

And she and the seniors didn't stop dancing at the annual Valentine's Day party celebrating her good friend and community leader Rich Black’s birthday. Center manager Luciana Deshay said she appreciates all the work Butler does.

“Mrs. Butler is definitely a trailblazer to the community, and she’s very inspirational to a lot of the seniors as well as myself," Deshay said. "She’s instrumental in a lot of things that happen at the center, and it's a lot of things we wouldn’t be able to do without her being a voice for us." 

Butler said she wants to ensure seniors in the community have everything they need to enjoy this time in their lives. 

“I just want them to enjoy all there is to give, live life to its fullest,” Butler said.

If you know anyone with a heart for community and helping others like Mable Butler, nominate him or her on the Everyday Hero screen on the Spectrum News 13 website or app.