Matt Horne is a terminal manager with Cemex.
“My average day looks like I come in, load trucks, discharge ships, and make sure our customers get the products they need,” Horne said.
He’s been leading operations at the Port of Palm Beach Cemex plant for almost five years.
“With my leadership role here at CEMEX I get a lot of kids straight out of high school that haven’t been given the same opportunities as a lot of people and don’t understand the need to give back,” Horne said.
But Matt's leadership goes beyond the terminal. He’s gearing up for a big challenge.
A paddleboard trip from Bimini to Lake Worth Pier, all for a cause close to his heart.
“I had a neighbor who had cystic fibrosis, and I saw the struggles they dealt with every day. As a kid you don’t understand it,” Horne said. “We were outside playing running around and having a great time and he just didn’t have the same childhood as we did. As you grow up you start to appreciate life a little bit more. We also have an employee here at the plant whose wife’s cousin passed away recently of cystic fibrosis so we just want to bring attention to the cause and raise as much money as we can.”
The paddle board challenge called The Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis is a fundraiser spearheaded by a local nonprofit called Piper’s Angels Foundation.
“Cystic Fibrosis is a progressive generic disease. One in 34 Americans are a carrier of the CF gene and it’s a life limiting disease,” said Travis Suit, Piper’s Angels Foundation Executive Director. “It causes a overproduction of mucus inside the digestive system in the lungs which leads to a lot of lung infections and eventually reduces lung function.”
Travis Suit established the nonprofit in 2016 in honor of his daughter Piper who is now 17 years old.
“The money raised goes directly to supporting the programs through Piper’s Angels Foundation which directly impacts the families through urgent financial assistance for supporting medical needs, through holistic wellness with scholarships, peer to peer support we provide. And its not just base in the us. we are fighting for health equity for children with cystic fibrosis in the us and all around the world,” Suit said.
With the June deadline approaching, Cemex is looking for businesses that want to support matt’s journey by donating $2,000 to place their logo on matt’s paddle board. Matt says no donation is too small.
“It is quite miraculous what you can do when you bring a group of people together for a good cause,” Horne said.
To donate to the Cemex Team visit https://give.classy.org/cemex
To donate directly to the Piper’s Angels Foundation visit pipersangels.org
To place your logo on Matt’s paddle board, email CEMEX Public Affairs Manager Jenna Emerson.
