Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin

Fernandina Beach

July 1, 2016 1:00 a.m.

Dale Martin City Manager

As part of my work with the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team (PDA NRT), I am occasionally called to deploy to a disaster site to support community recovery efforts. Like the disasters themselves, these calls come with little warning. In the past, I have responded to communities affected by floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards. Last week, I was requested to immediately prepare to travel to West Virginia due to the deadly floods that had ravaged that state. Commitments here, though, precluded me from being able to stay as long as needed, so others from the NRT have travelled to West Virginia for now.

I believe that the desire to help others in need is a strong feeling for many people. Stories of the generosity of “strangers” are often shared in popular media. Churches and other civic organizations frequently organize trips to aid disaster victims or assist others in need. It seems, though, that those needs are always someplace else.

While we have not had to call for disaster assistance, I strongly suspect that somewhat masked by the relative affluence of our community, we have “neighbors” in need in Fernandina Beach. If not, why do we have active social service agencies such as churches, Barnabas Center, the Council on Aging, Habitat for Humanity, Northeast Florida Community Action Agency, the United Way, the Salvation Army, and others? So how we can respond to those in need?

I believe that the first facet to consider is time. As with my inability to go support response and recovery efforts in West Virginia, it was because I was too busy with my own duties and responsibilities. Everyone seems to be busy, whether it is with professional or personal: meetings, family obligations, youth activities, social commitments. When do we have time to do more even if we want to do more?

Consider the following (which was likely the result of too much sun or alcoh-, yeah, sun). What if we created a series of local “holidays” to promote community service. Encourage employers to let employees and other interested volunteers have the day (or half-day) to help someone in need. How about the first day of each month? Fernandina First.

We’d need projects each month. We can develop an application and screening process with the assistance of the social service and charitable organizations described above. We could then select projects and schedule volunteers. We’d need (and welcome) everyone to help- swing a hammer, trim a hedge, move some garbage, wash a window.

Next, of course, we’d need money for supplies. Since many of our small local businesses are often overwhelmed with requests for donations, we’ll actually pay for our stuff- which means we still need money (although obviously we wouldn’t turn aside donated supplies). Using financial donations, we’ll set up (perhaps through a segregated City account) a mechanism to secure funding. We’ll start with a relatively small goal: $10,000. I’ll pledge the first $1,000.

If enough interest in such a concept is expressed, it would take some time to get things up and running and coordinated (and funded- it always comes down to the money). We can get organized over the next several months and scheduled the inaugural “Fernandina First” for February 1, 2017 (Wednesday).

If you wish to offer comments on this concept, please contact me via email (dmartin@fbfl.org). I truly appreciate the beauty of this community: downtown, the beaches, the parks, and the history. We shouldn’t overlook the fact that we have some other areas that are often conveniently overlooked since it is perceived that those areas don’t contribute as much to the Amelia Island “ambiance.”

Those areas, nonetheless, do contribute to the vitality, depth, and breadth of our community. It is to enhance our total quality of life that I hope to sufficiently organize this effort. In the brief time that I have been in Fernandina Beach, I have been overwhelmed by the friendliness, generosity, and enthusiasm of residents.

Ms. Tammi Bach, City Attorney, shared an appropriate quotation of Winston Churchill as I discussed this concept: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Thank you for your patience and assistance.