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The Lee County Board of County Commissioners selected Cynthia Shafer as the recipient of the Paulette Burton Citizen of the Year Award for 2016.

During the past 16 years, Cynthia Shafer has delivered more than 2,500 beds, complete with sheets, pillows, blankets and stuffed animals, for children in need as president of Bedz for Kidz.

Many of the children, who are from a five-county region, are in the care of extended families or foster parents because they come from homes in which they suffered abuse or neglect. Shafer also has represented these children for more than 24 years as a guardian ad litem. She also has served on the Lee County Housing Authority and the board for Children's Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida.