I would like to take an opportunity this month to say thanks to the many not-for-profits in our area for all that they do in service to others. Many of our local not-for-profits are in the middle of their annual fundraising campaigns and I can only imagine what a tough assignment raising money must be in this economy. However, even despite of the tough times, some not-for-profits are still reporting spectacular results.
United Way also opened its new location at 6479 Caroline Street (Hwy 90). Their building looks fabulous and I am sure a lot of local citizens are very pleased with the aesthetic improvements made to this property. The overall visibility in this location will surely pay dividends for this organization in the future.
Another not-for-profit who is having a tremendous impact on our community is the Santa Rosa Kids House. For those of you who have not seen their new building on Stewart Street, it really is an amazing facility. The Santa Rosa Kids House, Inc. is a non-profit corporation, comprised of Santa Rosa County citizens who are true child advocates and share the desire to address the issue of child abuse in our county. This board has undertaken the task of building and maintaining a facility in our county that will house agencies that investigate, prosecute, and deal with emotional and psychological aftermath of this horrendous crime. I recently had an opportunity to tour this facility and I will tell you it is an amazing accomplishment for our area and will be a great tool in reducing trauma to the children in our area.
I have not had a chance to speak to anyone regarding final numbers on Relay-for Life's spring fundraising but I have read that the results were good. I know that the Chamber relay team raised more than $8000.00, what an amazing accomplishment! Hats off to all of Chamber Relay-for-Life members.
We have so many great businesses and citizens both within and outside of our chamber that make the missions of our local not-for-profits possible. My thanks go to these business owners and citizens and I would like to recognize them for all that they do to help raise and contribute funds in an effort to better others.
I would like to switch gears just a bit a give a special thanks to our military affairs and military appreciation volunteers for a great Military Appreciation Month. I had a chance to attend a couple of the events in May and I can not say enough about what a great job these folks did in showing the men and women of our armed forces and their families how much we appreciate them and their service to our country.
The Military Appreciation Picnic at NAS Whiting Field on May 15th was a great event. I had a chance to serve hot dogs and hamburgers for a couple of hours and I can say that our military members and their families were truly appreciative of what we were doing and took every opportunity to tell us so. Everyone had a great time and we saw a lot of smiles on a lot of faces that day.
I was especially impressed with the group of guys and gals working the grills that day. They literally grilled thousands of hamburgers and hotdogs in ninety degree heat with about ninety-five percent humidity on a four hundred degree grill and did it all with smiles on their faces. There were nearly sixty volunteers who worked the picnic events at various times during the day and they all did a great job in making this a great event.
I would encourage all of our members and citizens to take advantage of opportunities to volunteer for events such as these. It usually doesn't involve a huge time commitment and it is so very appreciated by those on the receiving end.
